Déjà Vu All Over Again
by King in Yellow
Summary: Some argue there are no coincidences. People imagine order in chaos - even 'finding' patterns in random numbers. Shego keeps running into Kim during enforced R&R. Each accuses the other of spying. Fate? Coincidence? Or something even harder for the two to accept? Chapters alternate POV. Not BEU.
1. S: If Anything Can Go Wrong

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

This started with a desire to play with a threadbare cliché (not all are). The problem is, it takes a lot of chapters to set up my idea. So, if you're still around in about twenty-five chapters you might get to say, "Hey, I don't think I've seen that done before." Chapters are all relatively short. Shouldn't be any under one thousand words, but many won't go very far over.

**Shego: ****If Anything Can Go Wrong, It Will**

Why Drakken picked a lair in Middleton I don't know.

"Are you stupid?" I asked him. It was a pointless question. I already knew the answer. He didn't.

"Of course not," he answered. I told you, he didn't know the right answer.

"Middleton is the cheerleader's back yard, remember?"

"It is also the home of Middleton Research."

"Hello, cheerleader, are you losing your hearing too?"

"No, I'm not... What do you mean, too?"

"A lair here is asking for trouble."

"Nonsense, Shego. We're hiding in plain sight."

"Hiding in plain sight?"

"Certainly. Since Kim Possible and that... that person she pals around with aren't expecting us here they won't see us, we won't register in their tiny teenage minds."

I sighed, wondering if anything ever registered inside his blue skull. "So, what are your plans?"

"Well, I don't have a plan at the moment. But something will come to me."

"Yeah, well while you're waiting for your Muse to hit you with an idea stick I'm heading for the Middleton Mall."

As I exited the lair I heard him muttering something about an idea stick. I figured there was a fifty-fifty chance he'd be trying to invent an idea stick when I got back to the lair. And, if he were, there was a one hundred percent chance I'd be beating him over the head with it.

I wasn't wearing my catsuit. Hego was right about a few things; wear a colorful costume and people remember you by the costume more than your face. I still don't think Superman could put on a pair of glasses and everyone would miss the fact Clark Kent was Superman. Hego insisted it was possible. Like I said, Hego was right about a few things, emphasis on few. But put on some earth tone clothing, change your hair style and makeup and a lot of people are going to ask, "Has anyone told you that you look like Shego?" This was assuming they'd even heard of Shego. I try to keep my pictures out of the media as much as possible. No good way to hide the skin tone. Try to cover it up and it looks so fake people wonder what you're trying to hide. Got a lot of answers I use to the question "Do you know you look like Shego?" Answer I give depends on person asking. Got a 'Crawl under a rock and die' answer at one end of the spectrum and a smile with a, 'That's a great opening line' at the other end for a night of conversation at a bar.

I needed a lot additions to my wardrobe. The cheerleader and her hapless sidekick, the boy blunder, had blown up most of my clothes in the last couple lairs. I figured I'd start with the clearance racks in 'Maxx Savings'. If we were going to be in Middleton for as long as Drakken predicted I figured I'd better stock up.

I steal retail, but if I'm paying out of pocket I hit clearance. First day in town, no need to start a crime wave on day one.

And no, I am not afraid of drawing the attention of the damn cheerleader. She'll be around eventually. She keeps insisting on screwing up the blue guy's plans but I figured I deserved a few days R&R before my next fight, and making the police aware I was in town would cut in my 'me time'.

You never know exactly what you'll find in clearance. Oh, you can be sure that ninety-nine percent of it is crap, and you know exactly why it's there - and you wouldn't want it if they gave it to you free. But then there is the one percent, the couple items that you wonder how they could have ended up in clearance.

It looked like a day when fortune favored the wicked. They must have just restocked clearance, I was finding stuff as nice as their lying television ads show you, I swear, the percentage of items worth wearing must have been ten percent... Okay, that's a lie. Closer to four. But that's still four times better than what you usually expect.

Had more items in the shopping cart than I was allowed to take into the dressing room at one time. But my good luck had left me in a mellow mood, and I wasn't looking for trouble. I didn't argue with the gum-chewing moron in charge of the dressing rooms, punch her, or try to sneak more in. I played by the rules.

Almost half of the items in my cart were worth buying. There was a tweed jacket they were almost giving away. I checked the label. Dry clean only. Nobody in this wash-and-wear world has time for dry cleaning. I don't either. But it looked good even before eighty percent off. Pumpkin would probably be by to ruin Dr. D's plans before it would require cleaning.

I was humming a little tune as I waited in the checkout line. Humming a little tune. Not trying to push ahead of anyone. Not making faces at the four-year old who was staring at my green skin. Not threatening the ding-bat who couldn't find her credit card and had dumped out the entire contents of her purse on the counter and floor while searching for it. Not threatening the sales clerk who should have moved over to the next register and rang up the next customer while ding-bat tried to remember where she left her head. (I could have told her where she had her head stuck, but I was playing nice.)

I hate fate. Bastard always sets you up before the sucker punch.

"Shego!" the familiar voice behind me hissed. "What are you doing here?" the cheerleader demanded.

_"Shit"_ I closed my eyes and sighed. Sucker punched by fate. Definitely sucker punched.

I didn't want to waste my time on a fight. I had a cart full of loot and I didn't want to run off and leave it. I ignored the cheerleader. Not all fights are with your fists. And since Pumpkin's brain sat on his fat ass behind a computer screen I figured I had this one, easy.


	2. K: Nothing Is As Easy As It Looks

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Kim: ****Nothing Is As Easy As It Looks**

It looked like another beautiful day. I'm convinced most days are beautiful days, you just need the right attitude. Sun, snow, wind, rain – they all have their place. I am not saying every day is wonderful, and I resent it when Bonnie hears me say "It's a wonderful day!" and whispers, "Little Mary Sunshine," to Marcella or Hope and they giggle. I don't think floods or tornadoes are beautiful, although if no one's hurt there is something really awesome in watching nature's power.

Mom was at the stove, taking pancakes off the griddle for Tim, when I got downstairs. "Pancakes?"

"No thanks, what are you having?"

"Bacon and eggs, with coffee."

"Bacon and eggs, please and thank you. I'll stick with milk and orange juice."

Dad looked up from the newspaper, "Any special plans today, Kimmie-cub?"

Mom gave me a stage whisper, "He doesn't know?"

"Don't know what?" Dad asked.

"New stuff in clearance at Maxx Savings," Tim told him, reaching for the syrup.

"It's like a religious ritual with her or something," Jim added.

I felt my face get slightly warm, "It is not a religious ritual," I insisted.

"Simply a very high priority," Mom laughed as she put strips of bacon down on the griddle.

It was a pretty typical morning. Mom talked about some neuropathology lecture she'd been asked to give in London. Dad said they were having trouble figuring out the optimal shielding for a probe to Venus. The tweebs offered to come down to Middleton Research and see if they could help.

Okay, I don't always enjoy breakfast. I love my family, but some days I end up feeling dumb. I'm making straight A's, and would probably be class valedictorian if it weren't for Justine Flanner – they really need to invent a grade higher than A – but when you're eating breakfast with a brain surgeon, a rocket scientist and the junior evil genius club it can be kind of a downer.

"I'm working at Club Banana this afternoon," I told the parents. "I'll probably hang with Monique after we close."

"Send a text if you're going to spend the night there or she comes over here so I can plan for breakfast tomorrow," Mom told me.

"And no boys," Dad warned.

"We're not allowed to talk with boys?" I asked innocently.

"Um, you can talk," he grudgingly conceded.

"So, what isn't she allowed to do with boys?" Mom asked.

Dad looked flustered and went back to reading the paper.

Got to Maxx Savings later than I wanted. I stopped to help get a beagle down from a tree... I'd have loved to know how he got up the tree, but the owner was too upset to be very clear when I asked. And after that I had to go home and change clothes.

Not as much as I hoped for, but I started to go through the stuff which wasn't supposed to be my size. Sometimes people see things and move it to the wrong spot in hopes it will be there later. I scored with the tactic, finding a nice skirt.

I glanced at the front of the store. The checkout line seemed to be moving slowly. I went through the racks again hoping for another bit of luck, but my luck seemed to have run out with the skirt. Hopefully they'd add another clerk to the registers.

A tall woman had been added to the end of the line when I went to checkout. Some tween buying an iPhone case was behind her when I joined the queue.

Something about the tall woman seemed familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, until she turned to look at something and I caught a glimpse at her profile.

"Shego! What are you doing here?"

I couldn't believe it. She ignored me, just turned back and looked straight ahead. She had to have heard me. It didn't look like she was wearing ear buds or anything.

"Shego!" I said again, a little louder.

The kid in front of me and the woman ahead of Shego turned around to stare at me. Shego herself ignored me. The other two turned back around like I was a little crazy or something.

I reached over the kid and tapped the woman on the shoulder. She couldn't ignore that.

The woman turned around and stared at me. She might have her hair up and be in different makeup, but that was Shego. "Excuse me?" she asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Shopping," she answered, and pointed at her full cart. She turned back around to ignore me again.

"Move," I warned the tween with the iPhone case in a whisper, "there's going to be a fight."

I tapped her on the shoulder again, "Not today, Shego. You're wanted."

"What are you talking about?"

I assumed fighting stance, "I'm taking you in."

And then she did the one thing I wasn't expecting... Okay, maybe there are lot's of things I wouldn't have expected. I mean, if she had suddenly grown twelve feet tall, sprouted wings, and announced in the voice of James Earl Jones, "Luke, I am your father," I wouldn't have expected that either. But she managed to surprise me.

She didn't go to fight mode. Shego shouted, "Security!" and waved to catch the attention of the guard standing by the door. "Security," she shouted again and pointed at me. "This young woman is harassing me."

The mall cop headed over. I spoke first, "This is Shego. She's a wanted criminal."

"I don't know what this person's problem–"

"My name is Kim Possible. You know me."

"I don't know what fantasy is in this young woman's mind," Shego insisted, "but I'm here to shop. I was minding my own business and she started called me 'Shego' and tried to start a fight."

The guard recognized me, but he hesitated. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Of course I'm sure," I told him. "Arrest her."

Shego remained so calm it almost made me doubt myself. An assistant manager headed over to us. "False arrest won't do the store any good," Shego warned the guard. The assistant manager heard too. "All I want to do is make my purchases. Is this how you treat a paying customer in the Middleton Maxx Savings?"

"What's going on?" the assistant manager demanded.

"Kim says this woman is a criminal," the guard explained to him.

The manager turned to me, "Kim, can you prove what you're saying?"

"Of course I..." I started. Then it hit me. "No," I admitted.

The assistant manager actually apologized to Shego, "I'm terribly sorry. Kim–"

"Who is this Kim person?" Shego asked. "I don't know what she's doing, but the guard is showing her more respect than a teenager making wild accusations deserves."

"She's our local hero. It appears she has mistaken you for someone else. Please, go to register four and I'll help you personally."

"But–" I tried to protest. The assistant manager glared at me and I shut my mouth.

Shego gave me a smug smile, then she thanked the manager and pushed her cart to the head of the line.

I considered dropping my shopping basket and going after her when she left the store, but I was not giving up the skirt I'd just found for seventy percent off. I consoled myself as I stood in line, _"Don't know why she was here, but I scared her off without her stealing anything."_

If there was one problem with the skirt it was the fact I needed a new pair of shoes to go with it. I headed to Discount Shoe World. I went directly to the clearance racks.

My day got worse. Someone else was looking at clearance for something to go with her purchases at Maxx Savings.

"Shego!" I hissed.

She looked at me and smiled, "Oh, the delusional young lady."

"No one can hear us, you can cut the... the..."

"Crap?" she suggested helpfully.

"Nonsense."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said.

"Yes you do."

"Do I need to call security here?"

"No," I sighed. "But I'm watching you."

"You're welcome to look all you want, Princess, but you can't touch."

I silently turned to the shoes and checked out what they had in my size. I figured I'd come up with a snappy comeback sometime this afternoon while I was working at Club Banana.

Shego scored a nice pair of boots. I watched her pay for them and leave the store. My luck wasn't quite as good. There was nothing in clearance that went with the skirt. I found a nice pair of shoes at a reasonable discount on the regular racks. I looked inside them. I didn't approve of the human rights policy of the country where they were made and reluctantly put them back.

It appeared the day was not nearly as beautiful as I thought when I woke up this morning.


	3. S: Things Go from Bad to Worse

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. And cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Shego: ****Left to Themselves, Things Tend to Go from Bad to Worse**

Things can be exciting when Drakken needs me to steal something for him. Unfortunately he had nothing definite in mind at the moment. "Relax," he told me. "Watch some television or go to the movies."

While, on general principles, I have nothing against turning my brain to mush I decided to buy some reading material. I move around too much for subscriptions, so I was behind on a couple magazines. I also wanted a copy of _Emma_. I figured I could sneak it into the lair inside an issue of _Soldier of Fortune_ and the blue guy wouldn't accuse me of being a Janeite.

And let me be perfectly clear. I am not a Janeite. I am not looking for Mister Darcy, and I haven't written any _Sense and Sensibility_ fanfiction. I have an image to maintain, and that image doesn't include Jane Austen any more than it includes the occasional binge on a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia after losing a fight to Pumpkin.

Middleton has a Slash-Price Books. The nice thing about going by yourself is that you can take all the time you want. You don't have to feel rushed by someone who wants you to leave. You don't have to wait forever while some friend dawdles in the religion section.

The nicer thing is that I figured there was no chance of the cheerleader showing up. Do high school students today still know how to read? Hell, half of them can't even remember to keep their mouths shut when looking for online videos of kittens and ruin their cell phones with drool.

Service was lousy. They don't hire enough staff for customer service, but at least they pass the savings on to you. On a positive note, it does encourage browsing in different categories when you aren't sure if a history of the siege of Stalingrad, will be in Russian history, German history, Twentieth Century history, or the histories of World War II.

While the service was lousy there were more people in the store than I expected. Maybe it was a Middleton pick-up joint – a kind of do-it-yourself dating service. Want a man who'll bring home the venison? Check out the section on hunting. Want a woman with a hot body? Hang around the exercise/fitness books.

I didn't worry about being IDed, I bluffed my way out of the mall a couple days earlier and figured there was even less chance of being identified here. Maybe I'd even test my pick-up theory, checking out some of the other readers or trying to notice if anyone was checking me out. I mean, if I'm going to be stuck in Middleton for a couple weeks I might as well try for a meaningless affair to break the monotony.

Found my magazines without any problem. Never found the siege of Stalingrad, but a Sotheby's auction catalog of 19th century bling caught my attention. The auction was three years ago, but the pictures and descriptions were still great. Felt pretty sure I had a couple guys checking me out while I browsed in history, but they were gray or bald and while one looked fit they both had weddings rings and neither showed any inclination to stray. They just liked the scenery. So the scenery took herself over for a copy of _Emma_.

Austen is always in classic fiction. Two young women were standing in front of the A's. The African-American was a stranger to me, her red-haired friend was not. I hesitated a second. I wasn't looking for trouble. On the other hand, I've never been one to back away from trouble.

Kim was down on her knees, looking on either side of a small empty space on the shelf. "Do you see another one?" the black woman asked.

"Nope."

"Trouble, Kim."

Kim looked up. "Shego," she hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told her.

"This is really the Shego you were telling me about?"

"There's only this one," Kim told her friend.

"Don't let her poison your mind against me," I told the dark-skinned girl, "I'm warm and caring. And Princess here is lousy at making introductions. So, who the hell are you?"

"This is my friend, Monique," Kim told me through gritted teeth.

"Monique... Nice name," I told the girl. I offered her my hand and we shook. Glanced at a small pile of books on the floor by where Kim was kneeling. There were three copies of _Emma_. I started to bend over and reach down, "Thanks, I'll take one of–"

Kim put a hand down on the pile, "No you don't. These are mine."

"Yours?" I retorted. "Why in the hell do you need three copies?"

"We're in AP Lit," Monique told me. I noticed she was holding a copy of _Emma_ too. "We watched Clueless and now we're going to compare it with the novel it came from."

"Which doesn't tell me why Princess here is playing dog in the manger with three copies."

"I promised to pick some up for other people in the class," Kim answered.

"Is there another copy?"

"No."

"Tough for them, then," I shot back. "They're not here. I am. Tell 'em to check out a copy at the library or something."

"We need to be able to underline or highlight," Monique argued.

"Then tell 'em to buy new copies at Burns & Allen," I said, raising my voice more than I intended. I was getting a little pissed off with Princess. "I'm here and I want a copy." I pointed at her copy. "You came down to buy a copy. If her boyfriend is too lazy to buy his own copy I don't want her taking a copy that should belong to me."

"Ron isn't in AP Lit–" the redhead began.

"It's for Felix and–" Monique started to explain.'

"I don't care who in the hell it's for," I told them bluntly. "It's not right for her to bogart all–"

"Is there a problem?" a guy with a store name tag asked, coming around the end of the aisle.

"Bogart?" Kim whispered to Monique.

"Yes," I told the man. "I'm trying to buy a copy of _Emma_ and this... She's got a pile of three–"

"I'm buying all three," Kim protested. "They're for people in my class."

"They aren't here," I argued. "I don't see why she should be able to–"

"I was here first!"

"Austen is a popular author," the man explained. "We usually have stock in back, we want to leave room for other titles." He looked at me, "Will you come with me? I can see if there are other copies."

I hesitated. If I left Princess would buy those three copies and run to avoid me. There was no guarantee more copies were in back. But I didn't want to start a fight and there was too much chance of being ridiculed for reading Austen later if I kicked up a fuss. "Sure," I sighed.

Five copies in back. One was a nice edition. The guy even promised a better discount on it and said he'd ring it up for me after he put the other four copies out on the shelf. Like I figured, Princess and Monique were long gone. I wanted to count it as a victory – I had a nice edition and the redhead had obviously fled from me in terror. But it didn't feel like a victory. It felt like she got what she wanted and I had to accept her getting what she wanted.

Seems like every time I'm around that girl I end up feeling crappy. Of course, when you work for Drakken you're skirting crap every day. It doesn't take much to push you over the edge so you fall in.


	4. K: First Things First

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Kim: ****First Things First, But Not Necessarily in that Order**

"Kim, Monique is here," my mother called.

I closed my eyes tighter and wished, for three seconds, I didn't have to get out of bed. I can't remember the last time I had enough sleep. I got in late from a mission last night – but mom and dad won't let me go on missions if I use that as an excuse to skip school work.

It was actually a late start day at Middleton High, but there was school work to... Was a trip to Slash-Price Books even school work? I'd offered to look for a copy of a book we needed for Felix. It's reflex. He can get around better in the wheelchair than most of us with two good legs, but the reflex kicks in sometimes.

He didn't remind me he was capable. "Hey, thanks. I scheduled a job interview in Upperton tomorrow morning."

"Great, what is it?"

"Not sure I'm supposed to say. I'll tell you for sure if I get it."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed," I promised.

"Thanks. Want me to give you money now or I'll pay you back?"

"Don't know what it'll cost, so you can pay me back."

Of course my offer to pick up a copy for Felix was overheard by a couple other people in the class. "Kim, can you pick up a copy for me, too?" "Yeah, if you're going anyway – I'll pay you back." "Hey, put my name on the list."

Kim Possible, the girl who can't say no.

My dad says there is a song with a title like that in some musical. Not that I've ever heard it. Who has time? I feel like I'm in every club and organization at Middleton High. The newspaper will usually have a photographer there if I'm doing something, so I get asked to join everything.

Sometimes Mom sits me down and lectures me, telling me I can't do everything and should learn to say no.

Of course, she's a brain surgeon and the most capable woman I know – at everything.

And then there's dad, with his cheerful, "Anything's possible for a Possible."

Some days I really, really want to change my name.

I'm not even the one saving the world and things, it's really Wade who figures it all out and fixes things, I'm just the one who gets hit trying to put his plans into action. But I'm the one people see. I'm the one who gets on the news and who the paparazzi chase. No one bothers Wade. If he ever wants to leave his room and buy a burger people don't even know who he is.

I order a burger and fries and someone scolds me for being a bad role model.

Mom's voice came up the stairs again, "Kim! Did you hear me?"

"Sorry, Mom," I called. "Tell Monique I'll be down in a minute."

Monique drove, which allowed me a minute to eat breakfast. "Don't get crumbs in my mom's car, GF," she warned me.

I carefully collected the offending crumbs.

There were only four copies of _Emma_ on the shelf. Monique needed one. I needed one, and had promised one to Felix. Three other people had asked me to buy copies for them. I knelt down on the floor, with any luck another copy or two might have gotten shoved behind the others. Luck had left the building.

"Trouble, Kim," Monique warned

I looked up and groaned "Shego."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. She was going to use that fake routine again.

"This is really the Shego you were telling me about?" Monique asked

"There's only this one," I told her, "and one is too many."

Shego tried grabbing one of my copies of _Emma_... She did it just to get me angry. I doubt she even knows who Jane Austen was. An assistant manager came over. Shego wasn't going to blow her cover just to annoy me and she went off with the manager. I was half tempted to wait around and see if there were more copies, but I didn't feel like a fight and I was still exhausted.

"Let's go," Monique said. "We can figure who gets the one copy later."

"Sounds good," I yawned. "Can I buy you a cup of coffee for driving?"

The coffee shop must have been busy early in the morning. They were sold out of the scones I love and I picked up the last pumpkin spice muffin. I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin spice muffins, but I wanted something more than the granola bar I'd eaten in the car. At least the cream cheese frosting was good.

I hadn't even started the muffin when trouble walked in the door. Shego stared at me. Maybe she wanted to make sure I wouldn't attack, but I was in no mood for a fight. Maybe she planned to grab the books just to annoy me. She was carrying a bag from the bookstore, but I didn't know if she'd got the Austen or not.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Shego went to the counter and ordered a latte. There was a little commotion. Apparently she had been staring at my muffin rather than me and didn't like being told they were out. Her complaints weren't loud enough to require I intervene, and after she got her coffee and croissant she went to the table the farthest from me in the store.

The fact she had wanted the muffin made it taste better as I ate it. It was a small victory, but any victory feels good when Shego is the opponent.

"I wonder why she's in Middleton," I asked absent-mindedly.

"Want me to go over and ask her?" Monique offered.

"She's dangerous."

"Hey, she didn't attack at the bookstore or when she came in. I–"

"And I wonder why she didn't start a fight either time?"

"Hey, I offered to go ask. You told me no. Change your mind?"

"No, don't go over. I'm sorry, Mo. I don't know where my head is today. I'm tired. I don't know who gets the one extra copy of _Emma_, I've got a million things to do and I don't need the stress of worrying about Shego on top of it all."

"I hear you, GF. Anything I can do to help? Maybe she has some innocent reason for being in Middleton."

"Shego doesn't have an innocent reason for anything. Thanks for the offer, but don't take my problems on yourself. You have enough of your own."

"You're always helping other people. Sometimes you need to accept help yourself – you're really looking stressed lately."

"Yeah," I admitted. "I could really use a massage."

"You need some you time. Why don't you call the spa? Have Ron take you to a movie or something. Relax, girl."

I laughed, "I wish it was as easy as you make it sound."

"It is," she told me firmly and pulled out her cell phone. A minute later she hung up. "God is rewarding you for being nice. You just got the last massage appointment the spa had for tomorrow."


	5. S: Spa Fon

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Shego: Spa fon**

"Did you hear me?" Drakken shouted.

I took out the earbuds, "What?"

He continued shouting, "I said–"

"Turn down the volume," I warned.

He dropped to his usual tone.

"I said this will be my greatest plan ever. It can't fail."

"Maybe the plan can't fail, but I have faith in you."

"Thanks, I... What did you mean by that?"

"I was asking what I needed to steal for you."

"It sounded like you... Never mind... I'll need you to steal the most important part... soon."

"How soon? I'm getting a little antsy about running into cheerleader. If it keeps up like this I'm going to go into my room and find her in my bed one of these nights."

"That's an interesting expression, I–"

"Part. Where? When?" I reminded him.

"Well, there is one teensy little problem."

"Dementor has it?"

"No, the problem–"

"Some do-gooder."

"No, the problem–"

"Well, what is the problem?"

"If you'd let me finish, Shego. The problem is that the component hasn't been invented yet."

"It hasn't been invented yet," I repeated dryly.

"Exactly, but in–"

"You need a do-hickey that doesn't even exist, and you say that's only a little problem?"

"A university in Tokyo is working on it. As soon as they perfect it you'll steal it and–"

"What are the chances we can move to Tokyo and monitor the progress?"

"Do you have any idea what the cost of living is in Tokyo?"

I sighed, "So we're stuck here?"

"Don't think of it as stuck, Shego. There are one or two other small problems with my idea and–"

"As small as needing something which doesn't exist?"

"Well, I can't really finish my design until I know the dimensions for the quantum accelerator, but I as soon as they finish inventing it and you steal it I'll be able to finish the most powerful weapon ever made! They're only looking to break atoms down into their constituent sub-atomic particles, but when I'm done it will not only disintegrate matter but reintegrate the particles into..."

He kept talking, but I was not longer listening. I waited for what I judged to be a polite period of time then told him, "On the assumption they won't be finishing it this afternoon I'm heading for the spa."

Well, I intended to head for the spa. At the moment it was a convenient excuse to get away from the blue guy. Him needing me to steal stuff that didn't even exist was a recipe for a headache.

I didn't know Middleton's spa situation, so I got online and hit Google. A couple places sounded sketchy in their ads. There were some independent places. Those are always a crap shoot. They might be incredibly good or the pits. Today I wasn't in the mood to take a chance. I recognized a decent national chain and gave them a call.

It was a good sign they couldn't take me immediately. It meant the locals thought it was good. She told me to leave a number and I'd get a call back if there were a cancellation.

I could go back out and listen to Drakken or I could curl up with _Emma_ for a couple hours. _Emma_ was definitely more attractive. It was my lucky day. After five chapters I got a call saying there had been a cancellation and I took the slot.

Love to take a day or two at a luxury European spa with the works. But I had hopes that a simple hour long massage could restore some of my customary good humor... And if you say what you're thinking I'll rip out your liver and feed it to a stray dog. Before Drakken and Pumpkin I was known for my _joie de vivre_.

Listened to the receptionist make her spiel for membership with the same close attention I paid to Drakken's plans, then moved back for my massage.

Offered to take off my top but the massage therapist... Massage therapist? What happened to masseuses? Those big blond Scandinavian hunks who could crush a brick with either hand, they were incredible. I think when cat houses started calling themselves massage parlors, and hoped the cops wouldn't notice, that masseuse became a dirty word. In any case the massage therapist told me to leave the top on.

She was good. Not good in the "so strong your muscles relax because they're afraid to fight back" way, but good in the sense she really knew her about around the nerve and muscle groups. And I was feeling good, better than I'd felt since Drakken opened the Middleton lair. Good, at least until I heard a voice in the hall, "This way Kim."

A voice I recognized answered, "Thank you."

I jerked up on the massage table.

"What's wrong?" the woman working on my back asked.

"Damn you, Possible. Why do you keep following me?"

There was an exclamation from outside my field of vision "What?"

"I said, stop following me."

"Shego?"

"No, you know who I am."

She stared in the room. "I know what you are. It's crazy."

"And I said, stop following me."

The massage therapist with Kim was trying to pull her away, but the cheerleader always wants the last word. Come to think of it, so do I. "I'm innocent!"

"As a new-born babe," I snorted with derision, "but you keep crawling after me."

"This way, Kim," the massage therapist with the redhead said, tugging a little harder.

"Please, lie back down," my therapist told me, putting a hand on my back and trying to give a gentle push.

"I want nothing to do with you," Kim told me as she disappeared from view.

"The feeling's mutual," I shouted and laid back down.

"You tensed up," my therapist told me.

"Yeah, and fire's hot," I muttered.

At least she didn't give me the, "How can you not like Kim Possible? Everyone loves Kim Possible, she's Middleton's sweetheart!" routine.

She couldn't get me back to the state of near-bliss I'd been in before the arrival of Princess. I was afraid to relax too much, damn cheerleader would attack if I really let down my guard.

I had hoped I'd be in a better mood when I left the spa. No one gets everything she wants, and I was feeling oh for twenty as I stepped out onto the darkened street. A coffee shop across the street called my name, but I ignored it. Pumpkin would probably follow me in, by 'accident' of course, and she'd already poisoned the evening for me. I'd noticed another coffee shop a few blocks away and figured I'd be safer there.


	6. K: Squa Tront

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

Probably the shortest chapter. Action should pick up next chapter. Reviewers get previews.

**Kim: Squa tront**

I figured that somewhere on-line there is an illustrated dictionary which, for its definition of "over-scheduled," has a picture of me. They could probably use the same photo for the phrase, "stressed out." I was late to cheerleader practice because of the prom committee. I was late to the Ecology Club hike because of cheerleading. And I was late for supper because of the Ecology Club hike.

After supper I went straight for the computer to work on my history paper. It was starting to roll when Mom called, "Kim, didn't you say Monique scheduled a massage appointment for you?"

I groaned inwardly. "Thanks, Mom," I answered. It was tempting to skip the appointment. If I went I was afraid I might be up until one in the morning trying to finish the history paper, and I was running on fumes these days. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gotten a good night's rest. But it would be rude to cancel my appointment on short notice, and a massage sounded good. With luck I could catch a cat nap on the table which would give me the energy to plow ahead on the paper.

"Kim, how are you feeling?" the receptionist chirped.

"Lousy," I muttered.

"What?"

"Sorry, just a little tired."

"A good massage will relax you, then you can go home and get a great night's sleep."

I wished a good night's sleep was on tap, but I didn't want to admit the amount of work I had left to do. "Sounds great," I told her with a cheerful voice.

The receptionist checked her book. "You have Linda. Go on back."

I'd had Linda few times before for massages. She was good. I sighed. It really would feel good to have a massage before getting back to work.

Linda was coming up front as I headed back. She smiled when she saw me, "This way Kim."

"Thank you."

A voice I recognized came from a room to my left, "Damn you, Possible. Why do you keep following me?"

I groaned. It didn't seem possible. "What?"

"I said, stop following me."

Linda pulled me back to her area and told me to lie down.

I hesitated. Shego had to be here for some reason beyond a massage, and attacking me seemed the most likely scenario.

"Lie down," Linda repeated. "You're not going to let that crazy lady get your goat, are you?"

That crazy lady is one of the most capable women I know, and almost a match for me. But I'm Kim Possible, the girl without fear. I'm not allowed to show just how scared I can be. I laid down with an apology, "Sorry."

"I'll have you feeling better in no time," Linda promised.

She didn't. Oh, she tried. And if I hadn't been so tense it would have helped tremendously.

At least I got to vent a little. I've heard barbers, bartenders, and priests are good at listening to problems. I don't know any bartenders or barbers, and priests have a tendency to moralize that can be grating. I think massage therapists need to be on the list.

I saw the coffee shop as I left the spa. A little caffeine might help me through the paper. But I couldn't go to the place across the street. There were questions about the treatment of the growers for both the coffee and hot chocolate served there, and I'd get the, "You're supposed to be a role model lecture," if I was seen in that shop. Also, in the back of my mind, there was a little worry that Shego might have headed there when her massage was over.

I sighed, there was a different shop, a couple blocks out of my way, which only served fair trade coffee and hot chocolate certified as paying decent wages to their workers. On one level that was really the place I preferred for ethical reasons, but it would have been so much easier just to cross the street and get a latte there.

_"At least I won't run into Shego here,"_ I thought as I went into Good Grounds.

I recognized the barista. Rick had played football for Middleton High and graduated a year ago. "Hey, Kim! What do you want? For you it's always free."

"I don't know why you do that, I should pay like anyone else."

"Manager would nail my hide to the wall if I did that. You saved this place."

"It was no big, I just saw the pressure relief valve was stuck."

"Exploding hot water scalding the customers? This place would have been sued out of existence if you hadn't caught it. Now, what do you want?"

He gave me my cup and I headed for the area in the back where I could slouch and sprawl if I wanted and didn't have to worry about sitting up straight and looking like a 'lady' while I ate my blueberry scone.

There are times I wish my public image allowed me to swear. This was one of them.

She was even mocking me with the same order I had in my hand, a medium latte and a blueberry scone. She must be spying on me to know this was my frequent coffee shop and usual order when I came here. That was more than a little creepy, Shego spying on me. She probably thought baiting me like that would make me lose my composure. I refused to let her get under my skin. I resolved to ignore her.

Well, I resolved to ignore her as best I could. Actually turning my back on her would just be stupid. I may not be the family genius, but I'm not stupid. I found a place to sit where I could watch her.

Shego didn't try anything. She just ate her scone, drank her latte, and left. She looked irritated. She must have really expected me to blow my top and start a fight or something. I took a small bit of pleasure in having annoyed her, maybe it was wrong of me, but she's just given me so much trouble through the years I've known her that a little payback seemed appropriate.

Of course I didn't have any time to savor that small victory, or the scone. I had a history paper to finish. I wolfed down the scone, carefully cleaned the crumbs from the table, threw away the rubbish and headed home for a long night in front of the keyboard.

A month ago I'd have said fighting Shego and stopping Drakken were my most stressful activities. Turns out Shego can cause the same level of stress all by herself, and without a fight.


	7. S: No Matter What Goes Wrong

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners.

**Shego: No Matter What Goes Wrong, It Will Probably Look Right**

It wasn't that time of the month, and it's a good thing too or I might have killed Drakken. As a general rule of thumb it isn't a good idea to kill the person who signs your paycheck. It can be a pleasant idea. It may be seductively tempting idea. But it is never a good idea.

And I wasn't sure if the problem was Drakken or Princess. They are both equally irritating, although in different ways. They both tend to be irritatingly smug. Drakken's smugness has its amusing side, since it comes with a big scoop of incompetence. Pumpkin's smugness comes with the fact she's damn good. I can't remember another person who's beat me more than once. In my mental tally I've beaten her a lot more than she'd beaten me, but if I'm being honest (which I often am not) I'm not sure some of my clean escapes really belong in the 'win' column where I tallied them or in the 'draw' column or maybe even a loss. At least she keeps me on my toes.

But at the moment I didn't want to be on my toes. I needed some serious R&R and Drakken had brought us to a location where the cheerleader was breathing down my neck. I frowned, deep in thought. The cheerleader didn't have the brains to be tracing me herself, it had to be her computer geek.

Drakken was heating some sort of dark red solution when I found him in the lab. "Hey, do you remember when you pirated the cheerleader's signal from nerdlinger, made her steal something for you from Dementor?"

"Of course I do, Shego. Why?"

"He's got her tracking me whenever I go into town. I'm sick of it. I'm thinking maybe I can use the tech to find his location and then I'm going to pay him a visit."

He blinked absent-mindedly and thought for several seconds. "We lost the equipment when we lost the lair. I think the plans are on the computer... Look for a document titled 'hidden talent'."

He does have his occasional good ideas, like cloud sourcing his plans so they don't get lost when we lose a lair.

The parts of the plan I needed were fairly simple. I didn't need to block the real signal, nor did I need to broadcast a fake computer geek. Given nerdlinger's abilities he'd probably found some way to insure Drakken couldn't use that plan again. What I needed was to find his location, the lair he worked from. Drakken had the frequency he used in the notes. All I needed was a directional loop and a good map of Middleton...

Was Pumpkin's computer geek even in Middleton? I'd never considered that. In this connected age he could have been in India. I'd have a much better idea in a couple hours. If he were in Middleton the triangulation would be a piece of cake and I'd pin down the location by the afternoon. If he wasn't in Middleton I'd know that too. I might have to do a bit more work for a precise reading but even then, by tomorrow, I'd be knocking on his door to tell him to get his nose out of my business. If Shego ain't happy ain't nobody going to be happy.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I parked in front of the middle-class home in a middle-class neighborhood of Middleton – probably something newer, and bigger, and fancier. The signal came from here. Maybe he had a transceiver in this house to hide his real location. I decided to let myself in and find out.

The house came equipped with a very nice alarm system. That didn't prove he was really here, but it made me optimistic. I hoped no neighbors were watching as it took me longer to break in than I'd planned.

_"Bingo,"_ I thought to myself as I peered into a room filled with towers and arrays of computer equipment. A short, stocky figure sat with his back to me... There were probably a dozen computer monitors of different sizes in front of him, their glow providing the illumination for the room. He jumped as I said, "I don't like hitting kids, but you know what else I don't like? People spying on me."

He whipped around on his chair, and looked as scared as I thought he should. "Shego! What are you doing here?"

I smiled, not my pleasant smile. It was my, 'your ass is mine' smile. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do – although trashing his equipment came to mind. "Surprised I caught you? The way you've been spying on me I'm surprised it was this easy."

"Spying on you?" he lied.

"Don't play innocent, nerdlinger, you're as bad at it as Pumpkin. You've been spying on me since Drakken dragged me to Middleton."

"I haven't been spying on you." There was a small look of panic on his face. I figured he wasn't a good enough actor to pull off a 'what is she talking about?' act. This was probably real terror.

"And you want me to believe the fact Princess keeps turning up wherever I go is pure coincidence?"

Maybe he was a better actor than I gave him credit for, he really looked puzzled as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," I growled.

"Kim told me she's run into you several times lately... You think I sent her after you?"

"You want me to believe she has the brains to track me without your help?"

"I don't think she's spying on you!"

"Of course not," I agreed, my voice silky. "Like I said, she doesn't have the smarts. So then I asked myself, who does have the brains and equipment to spy on me? And a name came to mind."

"Me?"

I smiled again, "Of course it's you." I cracked my knuckles. "This isn't a social call."

He looked scared enough to wet his pants and started babbling, and suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. This was too much like stealing a wheelchair from a guy who couldn't walk. He was stalling for time, hoping for a miracle. I don't believe in miracles, gave it up in second grade... That's another story.

Maybe I could just bust up some of his equipment. That would keep him from spying on me. Except he looked like a guy who would rather take a punch in the mouth than have something happen to his computers.

Well, I had to do something. If you don't follow through with a threat people think you're weak, and my reputation won't allow for that. I made a little small talk, reminding him he had to be lying when he kept protesting his innocence. All the time my mind was racing, trying to find someway to get this kid and Princess off my back without me having to punch out an overweight tween.

Well, an idea never hit me. But while I was looking for one Princess did. Tackled me from behind. Not exactly fighting fair... I was almost proud of her.


	8. K: If a Thing Is Done Wrong Often Enough

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Kim: If a Thing Is Done Wrong Often Enough, It Becomes Right**

Calculus in the afternoon was a mistake, in my opinion. After morning classes and lunch my brain is too lethargic to take in what Miss Whisp is saying.

Lethargic. I could thank my eighth grade English teacher for... Better get my head back on calculus.

What Miss Whisp was saying began making sense. I was about to raise my hand for a clarification on one point when my Kimmunicator went off, "EMERGENCY... EMERGENCY... EMERGENCY..."

I blushed red as everyone in class turned to look at me, "Kimberly, will you please turn that off?" Miss Whisp asked.

I tried. It wasn't turning off. And then I heard voices. The first voice was not Wade, "Surprised I caught you? The way you've been spying on me I'm surprised it was this easy."

"Spying on you?" Wade replied.

"Kimberly, I asked you to turn that off."

I missed part of what Shego said as I told the teacher, "I'm trying. It won't turn off."

"...You've been spying on me since Drakken dragged me to Middleton."

Wade answered "I haven't been spying on you."

"I've got to go," I told the class and bolted for the door. I knew I should get a pass, but this was an emergency. Miss Whisp would excuse me and hopefully someone would get my books. Ron wasn't in calc; after earning a C- in algebra he stopped taking math classes.

Of course, I didn't actually know where Wade lived. He valued his privacy. A mechanical voice in whatever alert he'd built into the Kimmunicator told me 'Colder' ... 'Colder' as I exited the school and headed for the parking lot.

Once behind the wheel I headed in the opposite direction from what had given me the 'colder' response and was rewarded with 'Warmer' ... 'Warmer'.

I listened for any possible clues as I drove. Wade wasn't making a lot of sense. I guessed he was stalling for time, hoping I could get there. I was doing my best. Shego's lack of violence seemed peculiar. All she appeared to be doing was insisting he and I had been spying on her and following her around. Which, of course, made no sense. I hadn't been following her, she'd been following me. And she seemed to be accusing Wade of giving her the information on where I could find her... This made no sense at all to me. Had she cracked?

It took a few false turns, but it was saying 'Hot' and I braked and got out of the car.

I left the Kimmunicator on the front porch, I didn't want it to give me away as I eased the door open and went in as quickly as I could while staying quiet. The voices came from down the hallway to my right. I peered around the corner. Shego had her back to me.

I don't like attacking from behind, but it seemed okay under the circumstances.

I hit her hard, and Wade screamed in fear as we crashed into a server. I don't like having my friends threatened. I hit her in the eye.

She punched me in the mouth.

Shego avoided my kick and grabbed me. She tried a throw, but I held on and we both went down, crashing into a table and knocking it and the equipment on it over.

Wade screamed again.

Shego and I were wrestling on the floor, both trying to find an advantage when something cold hit us.

"What the Hell," Shego sputtered.

I looked up. Wade had turned a CO2 fire extinguisher on us.

"Stop it!" he ordered.

I took advantage of the distraction to try and get a better hold on Shego.

Wade hit me with another freezing blast from the fire extinguisher. "I said, Stop it!"

Shego struggled to get up, and Wade turned the extinguisher on her and hit her with a blast of cold. "Both of you. Stop."

"Can we sit up?" I asked. I could feel blood trickling from my lip and wanted to check out the damage.

"Slowly," he told us. "And stay seated on the floor. I want to know what's going on."

"You know damn well what's going on," Shego swore. I glanced over. She was going to have a black eye from where I hit her. "Princess here has been following me all over Middleton!"

"That's a lie!" I interrupted.

"Maxx Savings, DSW, bookstore, coffee shop," she started reciting, "spa and another coffee shop."

"I wasn't following you! You were following me! That's the day I always go to Maxx. And I was at the bookstore first, and that coffee shop afterward."

"But you can't deny those others."

"I don't know... When did you make the appointment at the spa?"

"Wednesday morning. There was a cancellation."

"Monique made my appointment Tuesday. You were following me."

"I wasn't following you."

"Were too!"

"Was not!"

"Ladies!" Wade said sharply, "don't make me use this again." He fired a warning blast of CO2 into the air. "Now, as I see it there are two options–"

"Yeah, she's following me," Shego interrupted.

"Am not, you're following me," I told her.

"Ladies. Each of you was somewhere first half the time. Neither of you is following the other. Now, there are two options."

"Yeah, what?" Shego demanded.

"Let him finish," I told her.

"Thank you. Now, the first option is that we have an amazing coincidence going on here."

"I don't believe in coincidences," Shego scoffed.

"She followed me," I insisted.

I couldn't believe it. Wade aimed the fire extinguisher at me. "No she didn't. Neither of you followed the other."

"So what's the other option I asked."

"It's possible the two of you think alike."

"No way!"

"Go to Hell, Nerdlinger!"

"So, coincidence it is?" he asked.

"I... I guess so," I agreed. I looked at Shego, "You?"

"If the choice is believing in coincidences, which I don't, or thinking like you... Coincidence it is."

"Fine. You will both leave and not come back. Shego you need some ice on that eye. Kim–"

"Well, you're sure as hell going to follow me now," Shego insisted.

"You're a crook," I pointed out.

"I'll need to stop Drakken," Wade agreed.

"Well the blue idiot doesn't have squat going on at the moment," Shego argued, "and I'm not planning any crimes here in cheerleader's back yard."

"You're still a crook," I argued.

"I'll make you a deal," Wade offered.

"Wade!" I protested.

"What's the deal," Shego asked cautiously.

"I monitor crimes and problems. As long as you don't steal anything, or until Drakken starts something, I won't go looking for you."

"Wade!" I protested, "she's a criminal."

Shego looked suspicious. "That's sounds too good to me... Where's the catch? What do I have to do?"

"You forget you found my home, and you stay away from here."

"Deal!"

"Wade," I protested again, "you can't trust her!"

"I'm not sure I can," he agreed. "But I don't want the two of you busting up my computer equipment. At least this will buy me some time to upgrade security."

"My word is golden," Shego sneered, "when I give it." She looked at Wade, "You keep your half of the deal, I'll keep mine. I find out you're lying and there's not enough security in the world to protect you."

"I'll keep mine."

"Then I accept your terms."

Wade nodded, "Now both of you, out. It's going to take me at least a day to fix the stuff you broke."

I gingerly felt my lip. It stung like all get out and it was bleeding. I couldn't believe Wade would make a deal with a snake like Shego. On the other hand, after I said she couldn't be trusted she'd probably keep her word just to prove me wrong.


	9. S: If You're Just Drop-Dead Gorgeous

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Shego: If You're Just Drop-Dead Gorgeous, You Should Just Drop Dead**

"What happened to your eye, Shego?" Drakken asked as I poured a bowl of Special K.

"I ran into a door," I snapped.

"It look's like a–"

"A door named Kim Possible, she'll be eating her breakfast through a straw." I doubted that was true, but it never hurts to imagine the best case scenario. More likely Princess would just have a fat lip.

"I hope she didn't follow you back here, I–"

"We came to a kind of understanding. We're going to ignore each other until your plan comes together."

"You aren't going to tell her when I–"

"Nah, she'll figure it out when you take over the world."

"Of course." Drakken still had no idea when his latest plan would come together, but still insisted it would be his greatest ever. His latest plan will always be his greatest ever. He's like some guy who's been divorced twenty-seven times and thinks it's always her fault – and that woman he met at the drugstore yesterday will be wife twenty-eight and things will be perfect with her. Yeah, just like the last twenty-seven.

He needs a healthy dose of reality, but he always resents it when I try and give it to him, so today I just smiled and nodded. I was in a good mood and wasn't going to let him ruin it.

There are some advantages to knowing your address for at least a few days at a time. After I got back from Nerdlinger's yesterday I checked out things to do around Middleton on the internet. April Smith was giving a concert tonight. How could that not put me in a good mood?

Ha Ha Tonka was on the bill too. I might have gone for Ha Ha Tonka alone, but for April Smith I'd kill to get a ticket.

Fortunately there seemed no reason to think I'd need to kill anyone to get in, or even get ripped off by a scalper. The joy of indie music, there aren't enough people who appreciate the good stuff to worry about most concerts selling out.

Just in case, however, I arrived at the Donner Party Theater a good hour before the concert, when the webpage said the box office would open. The Donner was old, and small – easily before the days of electronic speakers when the vaudeville performers had to project.

I went in. Most of the seats had been taken out long ago. I didn't mind standing. I smiled, there was a bar slash concession stand to the back and side of the theater.

It got better, they had a local microbrewery on tap.

"Can I see your ID?" the guy selling me the stout asked.

"I don't look twenty-one?"

"State law... And maybe I want to know your name."

I pulled out a fake ID and showed it to him.

"Kendra... Pretty name," he commented and gave me change. "If you need a protector, I'm available."

The reference was obviously to my shiner. "Thanks, but I fight my own battles."

"I have other talents, anything you need?"

He was cute, but so not my type. "Not at the moment," I laughed. "But I'll keep you in mind if I do. What's your name?"

"Bob. Bob Reynolds." He slid me a card. "My phone number's on it."

I put it in my pocket. I doubted I'd ever give him a call, but sometimes you just want to be with a normal human being – and Drakken did not count for that. I sipped the stout as Bob and the other concession workers waited on other customers.

He managed to ask a couple questions. I managed to be evasive in my answers.

Other people started filtering into the theater. It might turn into a large crowd, and down by the stage was THE place to stand. I didn't want to miss out. I chugged the last couple swallows and threw away the plastic cup.

"See you, Kendra," Bob called optimistically.

I waved politely and headed down to stake out a place for myself. I found a prime spot, on the right hand side of the stage, and started chatting with a couple other women. One was about my age. I guessed the other might be one of Pumpkin's classmates. Her clothes identified the teen as a hipster and her attitude marked her as far too smug... I've got nothing against smug – if you've earned it. I earned my smug. Nerdlinger had earned his smug. He was a genius and he knew it. Princess... Hell, my black eye proved she was good. Having been to one more April Smith concert than the other woman and having a member of Green Day autograph a CD did not give this chick any smug credits. But she displayed a vaguely infectious enthusiasm for the concert which reminded me of a puppy... Or the Wegos.

A couple guys, hipster wannabees, came over and were trying to flirt with the smug teen. It was amusing to watch. I liked to think I'd never been that clumsy and awkward in my teen years. The other woman and I smiled and rolled our eyes at the antics of the trio.

If Jane Austen were alive today I wonder what she could have done with these teens.

God, it felt so good to be out of the lair, doing something fun, and not having to worry about running into the damn cheerleader. Ten minutes until the concert started. I couldn't remember the last time I felt this good.

Let it never be said God doesn't have a sense of humor. Maybe he has it in for me because I use his name in vain so much. I can remember the taste of soap too damn well. Or maybe I'd given myself the evil eye. All I know is, five minutes after I congratulated myself on an evening free of Pumpkin I glanced toward the the back of Donner Hall and saw the redhead coming in with Doofus. I tried to shake it off. I'd come for a good time and I'd be damned if she would rob me of that.


	10. K: I'll Wear Your Colors, My Dear

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

Have a weird schedule for the next week or so and not certain if I'll have access to a computer. Rough drafts of the next couple chapters are in my document file. If I can use a computer I'll try and get them polished and posted.

**Kim: I'll Wear Your Colors, My Dear, Until You're Standing Right Here**

My lip hurt. No acidic foods, like citrus, and nothing salty today. Everyone in high school knew how I'd run out of Calculus yesterday, and today I show up with a swollen lip. Most of them figured I'd been doing something exciting. Having Wade turn a fire extinguisher on me was not exciting. I was still kind of mad at him for offering a deal to Shego. And even if most people thought I was doing something important there were still a few with witty comments like, "Remember to duck next time."

That gets old very, very fast.

And then there was Bonnie. Four times during the day she... Got to get Bonnie out of my head. The school day is over. With any luck by Monday my lip will be back to normal. Ron and I have a date tonight and I plan to have fun.

I don't know what Ron's problem is... I'm not even completely sure if it's Ron's problem, or if the problem is me.

He's not romantic with me. He told me had fun with Zita (but not too many details). He told me even less about Yori, which makes me think he had a lot of fun with her. When he talked about Amelia or Tara he said more than I needed, or wanted, to hear. When he had money after that royalty check, and Bonnie was hanging on him... Well, I'm pretty sure he left some fingerprints on her.

Me? "Kim, could you pretend you're twelve and order from the kid's menu?" Or the toothbrush? Yeah, he claims it was for Dental Health Month... Dental Health Month he's heard of, but he's been living under a rock and never heard of Valentine's Day? He'd probably just had a checkup and the dentist had given it to him. Or that time he played the giant claw machine and I had to sit and watch him – for three hours?

Maybe it's me. I mean, I don't really know much about guys. I've been on a couple nothing dates that went nowhere. Sometimes I think my problem is that I know more that I'm supposed to be interested in guys than I'm really interested in guys... I tried telling cousin Joss that one day, but it just sounded stupid. Maybe I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing in this relationship.

Or maybe Ron and I are just too comfortable together. I mean, he's been my best friend forever. We've always hung out together. We never needed to impress each other. Zita, and Yori, and Amelia, and Tara, and Bonnie? Yeah, he wanted to impress them. Me? I'm just a comfortable old pair of sneakers. Nothing special about me... Darn it, I want to be treated like I'm special too. I'm tried of being taken for granted.

Take tonight's April Smith concert, for example.

I asked him. His response was kind of a lukewarm, "I guess so." I bought the tickets. I drove. And as soon as we get inside the Donner he tells me, "I'm heading to the concession stand, KP. Can I get anything for you?"

Hey, at least he asked if I needed anything. "No thanks, Ron. I'll look for a good spot to stand."

"Okay, I'll find you."

Ha Ha Tonka was supposed to be on first. I didn't really know them. I'd listened to a couple things on YouTube but wasn't sure how loud they'd be live – I didn't want to blow out my ears before April Smith came on.

I looked around the hall. There were some people I knew from Middleton High down to the right of the stage. Chloe thinks she's... Was that Shego down there?

Why couldn't Wade see she was following me? Sure, she was here first. But there were a lot of ways she could have learned I was going to be here. And she had to be here just to annoy me. Kidnapping has never been her thing, and there wouldn't be enough money at the box office to be tempting for her. The musicians didn't have any high tech instruments Drakken could use in a scheme, so the only conclusion was that she was here to annoy me.

I wouldn't give her the satisfaction. Deep, cleansing breath. Let it out slowly. Deep, cleansing breath. Let it out slowly.

"What's up?" I nearly jumped out of my skin when Ron spoke.

"Shego's here," I hissed.

He looked around and found her. "What are you going to do?"

I weighed my options. Wade had promised not to send me after her. I'd made no promise, but what were my choices? I could leave, and miss the concert. That would be a victory for her. I could fight her. I wanted to pay her back for my sore lip. In the best case scenario the police arrested her and took her to jail, but they took me to the station to make a statement and I missed the concert. In the worst case scenario she pulled her lame, "I don't know who this Shego is," routine again and security asked me to leave, and I missed the concert. "We ignore her." It seemed like the only way to hear the concert.

"Ignore her?" he asked in disbelief.

"That's what I said."

"Should we, uh, kinda stand over there in case she starts something?"

"Good idea," I agreed. If she started something I wanted to... Well, I'm not sure if 'want' was was the right verb, but I was willing to stop it. I just wanted to hear the concert.

I planned to keep an eye on Shego more than listen to Tonka, but they were good and Shego wasn't doing much of anything but chatting with some woman and Chloe a little between numbers. I started paying more attention to the music and less to her.

And, of course, when April Smith came on I was too busy paying attention to her to waste any time watching Shego. Ron took up the slack. He didn't seem interested in the music, so he kept a watch on Shego. I would have rather he listened to the music than be bored by it.

Shego and I spent most of the evening without saying a word, or even acknowledging the other's presence, but I wondered if my being there annoyed her as much as her being there annoyed me. I probably took more pleasure at the sight of her black eye than I should have.

After the concert Ron asked if we could stop at Bueno Nacho, but my lip was not up for taco sauce and I was stressed and tired from a couple hours close to Shego.

I let him out at his house. He leaned over to kiss me. Bad idea with a sore lip. I'd put that on the list of things to settle with Shego some day.


	11. S: The Dead Past Is Not Always Dead

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Shego: The Dead Past Is Not Always Dead, **

Well, according to Princess, Maxx Discount should be putting new items out this morning and I planned to be there.

I checked the eye in the bathroom mirror. It was going to take a couple more days before the bruising was gone.

Went in for breakfast. "Got a new expense," I told Doctor D, "I need to join some Dojo here in Middleton. I can't afford to lose my edge with inactivity. If I'm not fighting Princess once a week I need to train."

"Well, based on your eye–" he began. I gave him a stare that would have split a half-inch thick oak board. He swallowed hard, "Anything you want, Shego, anything at all. I want you in top form."

"Are you saying I'm not in top form?"

Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. "I, ah, have an experiment in the lab I need to check on."

He stayed out of the kitchen until I left.

I was definitely pissed off with the Princess. I didn't appreciate the black eye, but I was even less happy with the way she kept turning up underfoot – like last night. I tried to figure out a suitable revenge as I rode to the mall.

The cheerleader must have slept in. She wasn't among the shoppers milling around outside the store. I sized up the competition, literally. Only one would be looking for things in my size, and judging her taste, based on what she was currently wearing, I decided she was no threat.

While waiting for the store to open it hit me. I'd try doing something nice for her. Don't think for a minute it was a pull a thorn out of her paw kind of strategy. No, I had nothing but evil on my mind. First and foremost it would be set up a classic wrong footing. Maybe it would confuse her enough she'd stop following me. Unfortunately Pumpkin had a streak of maniacal persistence equal to Drakken's... No matter how many times you knock either of them down they just come back for more.

Well, I planned on training hard until our next fight, and I'd knock her down hard enough that she might figure out this is not a game for teenagers.

Grabbed a cart as the door opened. Did a fast check in Kim's size and put a sweater I thought she might like in my cart before heading to my domain.

The redhead was slow, and I wasn't finding as many goodies as I had last week. I was thinking of just heading to the changing room to try on the couple things I was considering and heading back to the lair when Princess came running in, out-of-breath. I pretended not to see her and went back to looking over a rack I'd already gone through twice while I stalled for time.

An opening presented itself a few minutes later, she was holding up a blouse and I ventured an opinion, "Wrong color, Princess."

"What?"

"Too purple."

She defiantly put it over her arm, I knew she wouldn't put it back on my say-so. I pulled out the sweater I'd found. "Try them both on," I suggested.

The cheerleader hesitated. I felt like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, offering her a shiny red apple. And she bit, reaching out her hand, but still not trusting me, "You put pins in it so that it would stick me, didn't you?"

"Moi?" I asked in mock surprise. "I'm on good behavior for the moment."

"Yeah, sure," she said pointing to her lip.

"You started it," I reminded her, pointing to my eye. "I promised your buddy I wouldn't do anything in Middleton, remember?"

"I didn't make any promises," she snapped.

She started to look annoyed and I reminded myself I was trying to play nice. "We aren't going to settle that now," I told her. "Go try them on."

I waited until she got back from the dressing room. She hung the blouse back on the rack. "Too purple?" I asked.

"Too purple."

"And the sweater?"

"Uh, thanks," she mumbled. I quickly headed for the checkout line. I'd hit my pleasant limit with Pumpkin for the day.

There was a movie in town I wanted to see, but figured there was an outside chance Princess and Doofus might be going to see it. Better to wait until tomorrow, teenagers don't go to Sunday afternoon matinees. As a general rule of thumb Sunday afternoon matinees are dead, it's why they're cheap – the only way the theater managers can get anyone in is by offering a big discount. Not that I needed the discount. I just wanted to finally do something in Middleton without the cheerleader showing up to spoil things.

The film was Memo Pad II. Seeing it would be kind of double strange. Strange number one was the fact they were even having a Memo Pad II at all, the original required no sequel. But the Hollywood rule runs that when a movie turns a profit you need to keep milking the idea until the public finally wises up and stops watching.

That part made sense to me.

The second strange was all internal. I'd watched The Memo Pad with Possible when Electronique had messed up my head.

As near as I can tell the head flipper she used didn't really turn you into something different. It suppressed some active parts of your personality, and brought out things you suppressed. Doofus came out super smart. Go figure. Hego was as big an idiot with his evil in charge as with his hero side in charge. So some parts of your personality remain intact either way.

So it wasn't the fact I'd enjoyed the movie with the brain flip and wanted to see it now which was weird, It was more the fact I'd watched the first one with Pumpkin, in the very same theater where I'd be watching the sequel.

But if I'm doing my best not to let the real cheerleader following me around get to me I wasn't about to let her memory get to me.


	12. K: And Sometimes It Isn't Even Past

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Kim: And Sometimes It Isn't Even Past**

Tired. Dead tired. Wade could have given anyone the directions for fixing that generator last night after the concert. Anyone could have used duct tape to patch the coolant hose. You wonder why I say, "No big," so often when someone compliments me? Because for me it is 'no big', I just follow Wade's instructions. I'm his hands, but it builds my reputation and he receives more challenging missions for me on the website. And if he ever gets one he can't handle I'll be the one seen as failing.

Tired as I was I could have slept in, but that would have meant missing the opening at Maxx... I glanced over at the clock. Apparently I'd hit the snooze button a couple times and was going to miss the opening.

Everyone was gone when I went downstairs. Mom had left a note for me on the table. Dad was still up to his neck in work on the Venus probe. The tweebs were attending a lecture on nanobot technology at... I read the note more carefully. They weren't attending a lecture, they were giving one at the university. Mom had some kind of evaluation of new interns to do on top of her regular duties. They were doing things that were really important – saving lives, exploring the solar system, and... I'm not sure what nanobots do, but it was probably more important than being the person who wraps tape on the coolant hose.

There was pancake batter in a bowl, but I was too tired to trust myself by a hot griddle and I had a bowl of cold cereal before heading to the mall.

Given how lousy I felt, and the fact I'd told Shego when the new items went onto clearance, I figured she'd be there. I wouldn't have minded being wrong, but I wasn't. It was hard to take any pleasure in being right under the circumstances.

Ignoring each other seemed the wisest course of action. I caught her watching me from the corner of her eye, but I was watching her from the corner of my eye in case she started something and I conceded she might be as suspicious of me as I was of her.

It either wasn't a good week or things got picked over before I arrived. I found a blouse in my size. The material was nice but the color... I pulled it out to give it a better look.

"Wrong color, Princess," a voice said.

"What?"

"Too purple."

I wasn't going to take her opinion on anything. I had been going to put it back, but I kept it because she had told me to put it back. Then she handed me a sweater and suggested, "Try them both on."

In the dressing room I analyzed the situation. I didn't for a minute believe Shego was being nice. There wasn't a nice bone in her body. Clearly she wanted to lull me into a false sense of security. I resolved it wouldn't work.

But while I wouldn't let her plan work it was a nice sweater, and the blouse was too purple.

She'd probably grabbed the sweater to try and trick me, but I thanked her for it anyway.

The house was still empty when I got home. I managed a short nap before plunging into homework. Dad was firm, homework was a higher priority than dates. He'd make an exception for saving the world, but I had to treat homework as a higher priority than dating.

Actually I didn't mind too much. I'd dropped enough hints about a sequel I wanted to see that Ron had finally asked me out for a movie. Movies with Ron were almost always Sunday afternoon matinees, and usually Dutch.

There was no way Memo Pad II could be equal to the first movie. I sort of wondered why they even bothered to make a sequel. To be honest I didn't really care that much about the movie. It would just be nice to be out with Ron.

He hadn't seen the first one with me. I'd watched it with Shego. Whatever Electronique had done to her... That Shego and I really had gotten on well together. Talk about weird feeling. That Shego and I really did get along and think alike. This Shego, the 'normal' Shego, was nothing but trouble.

Saturday night I managed a good eight hours of sleep.

"You look happy," Dad commented at lunch on Sunday.

I glanced at the clock. "In forty minutes I'm getting Ron and we're going to the movies."

"Is your homework done?"

"Yes."

"Well... No boys."

"Dear," my Mom pointed pointed out to Dad as the tweebs snickered, "Ron is a boy."

"Oh," he commented absent-mindedly, "I forget."

Ron stood on the curb, waiting for me, when I drove up. He jumped in the car. "This is going to be great!" he said with enthusiasm.

I smiled, "I know... Sitting in the dark theater..."

"Watching the movie... Eating popcorn."

I sighed and changed the subject. "How are classes?"

"Great! I still may have to take a summer class or two, but they'll let me march at graduation."

We talked about school until we reached the theater. I parked and we walked in. "Do you need money?" I whispered as we waited in the short line.

"Nah, my treat. I can't believe you wanted to see this with me."

It seemed an odd thing to say. I was still trying to figure it out when he spoke to the girl in the ticket booth, "Two for Texas Chainsaw Zombie Apocalypse, part six."

"What?" I objected.

"The movie."

"What movie?"

"The one you wanted to watch."

"You thought that was the sequel I wanted to see?"

"Wasn't it?"

I turned to the girl, "He wants one ticket."

"But KP!"

"You drug me to three of them," I reminded him. "That's all I can take."

"But the special effects in this one! 3D blood spurting–"

"And I'll take one ticket for The Memo Pad II," I told the girl.

Ron didn't say anything as we handed our tickets to the doorman, who tore them in half and pointed us toward different ends of the multi-plex.

As usual the manager came running over with a HUGE tub of popcorn when he saw me. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" he complained. "You shouldn't have to pay for a ticket."

"It was no big," I told him. "You don't have to make such a fuss."

"I'd have lost a million dollars in lawsuits if you hadn't noticed the film had been switched."

"Anyone would have done it," I assured him.

"But it was you. Here, take the popcorn."

I'd done that one without Wade, but it really was no big deal. I'd taken two kids I was babysitting to the theater for a children's movie, but it obviously wasn't a kiddie movie that started on the screen. An angry employee who'd just been fired had done it. The manager didn't want parents suing him, claiming their children had been traumatized.

"Hey, KP, can I have the popcorn?" Ron asked before heading left.

"No!" I snapped, and headed right. I was angry with him at the moment. I didn't know what I'd do with all this popcorn, but I wasn't going to give it to him.

As if I needed something to irritate me more, someone was sitting in my favorite spot in the theater, a green someone.

"Doofus coming to help you with that?" Shego asked, looking at the size of the popcorn tub.

"You're in my spot, will you move?"

"I was here first!"

"Shhhhh," a woman sitting two rows behind Shego hissed.

"Move," I repeated.

"No."

I hesitated. This was my favorite row. I sat a couple seats over from Shego. I was mad at Ron for thinking I wanted to see a zombie slasher flick. I was mad at Shego for taking my favorite spot in the theater. And I didn't know what to do with the popcorn.

"Shego?" I whispered.

"Not moving, Princess."

"Get me a Diet Coke and you can have half the popcorn."

"Yeah, and you'll steal my seat while I'm gone."

"No I won't, promise."

"Shhhhh," the woman two rows back hissed again.

There's always a line at the concession stand. The house lights dimmed and there were ads for a car dealership and a tanning salon, followed by a trailer for some upcoming movie about some Marvel superhero I'd never heard of, Speedball or something like that. It looked really lame. I knew Ron would make me see it.

Shego slipped in as the trailer for a summer action movie with over-the-hill stars started. She tried to hand me a soda.

I hesitated. If she'd spit in one, I should take the one she was keeping for herself. But she knew I didn't trust her, so she'd give me to the good one knowing I'd ask for the other. But she knew that I knew that she knew I didn't trust her, so she'd give me the one she spit in. But I knew that she knew that I knew that she knew I didn't trust her...

During my hesitation she sat down, and whispered, "I spit in them both."

It was so funny, like she knew exactly what I was thinking. We both burst out laughing.

The woman sitting two rows behind us got up and moved.

Shego and I managed to be quiet during the movie, except for groaning or giggling at the really bad parts.

We waited for fun bits at the end of the credits. There weren't any. "Why did they bother?" I asked as the house lights came on.

"For the dough, Princess," Shego told me. "They're bigger thieves than I am. They'll make more from this bomb than I can steal, and waste the time of millions of people."

"Sure wasted ours," I agreed. I glanced at my watch. "Darn, twenty-five minutes until Ron's movie is out."

"Quite the movie date," Shego laughed, "sleeping in separate theaters."

She and I loitered in the multi-plex hallway, comparing notes on the movie and injuries. Her eye was looking better. I confessed I wouldn't have been able to eat the popcorn before today because of my lip.

After twenty minutes or so I saw a stream of guys exiting a movie at the far end of the hall. "That must be Ron's movie letting out." I turned around to say goodbye to Shego, but she was gone – had slipped out when I was looking down the hall.

_"Okay, we have the same taste in movies,"_ I thought to myself. _"It doesn't mean we think alike."_


	13. S: Nature Sides with the Hidden Flaw

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Shego: Nature Always Sides with the Hidden Flaw**

There are two people in this world you had better be honest with. Oh, there are other people it may be a good idea to be honest with, sometimes. I am a firm believer in situational ethics. Your doctor is one of the two people you should always tell the truth. You're the other. Truth is, there're plenty of people who aren't honest with themselves. Drakken is one of them.

If you lie to yourself too often you get delusional and start believing your own lies.

I am not delusional.

But being honest with myself about Pumpkin's abilities wasn't easy. I had several advantages over her. I knew I was stronger, and I had my plasma edge. I thought I was faster, but wasn't positive. We were obviously close. With strength, speed, and plasma on my side I should beat her every time. I beat her a lot, but not every time. I wanted to believe it was dumb luck on her part, but honesty wouldn't let me.

No, clearly cheerleader had an advantage somewhere.

I'd gotten lazy.

When you have the speed, and strength, and plasma it's easy to let the training slip. When it seems like you can beat the crap out of anyone without even half trying you don't feel the need to more than half try. So I hadn't been trying hard enough. Cheerleader doesn't suffer from feelings of superiority. She knows I'm good and she obviously works hard to compete with me. Damn kid is a classic over-achiever.

So I spent the morning looking up martial arts schools in Middleton...

Yesterday afternoon was a bit weird. It had been fun to watch the stupid movie with someone else rather than seeing it alone, even if that person was Pumpkin. But fun is off the clock. My job description includes winning fights, and I can't let enjoying a movie with Princess cloud my priorities.

There were more martial arts schools in Middleton than I expected. But anyone can call him or herself a fifth degree black belt, rent a space, and charge suckers for instruction. Some of the recommendations, or flames, on social media were clearly fake. Three places sounded legit and I narrowed my focus to them, and finally decided Mr. Kim's sounded like the best place in town.

I decided not to let the name discourage me. It sounded Korean, and I like Koreans.

Managed to get Mr. Kim on the phone without too much trouble. Told him I wanted the most advanced sessions he offered.

Tried pumping him for more information about his school. He was pumping me for information as we talked. Hell, I respected that. Got morons who think watching three Jackie Chan movies means they're black belts. You don't want that kind of idiot in an advanced class fucking things up.

Well, talking with him convinced me he was good.

You can't show someone your skills by talking, but I sounded good enough he invited me to come in for an evaluation half an hour before the advanced class that evening, if I didn't embarrass myself I'd stay for the advanced session.

I knew I wouldn't embarrass myself. What is that saying, something about pride going before a fall?

My evaluation consisted of four falls with Mr. Kim. I ended up on the mat three of those four times.

"Guess I'm not as good as I thought," I told him as he gave me a hand to help me up after the fourth fall.

"You were excellent, Ms Ivy," he assured me. "I would be proud to have you in my advanced class."

"If I'm so good why did I end up on my ass three times?"

"If you had put me down three times I would come to you for instruction. Only three of my students have ever put me down, and one of those was lucky. I think you need to refine technique, but you are very skilled."

Having the guy who knocked you down three times tell you he thinks you're good takes a little of the sting out, but only a little.

On the other hand, it confirmed my self-diagnosis. I sometimes lost to the cheerleader because I'd gotten lazy. Well, the lazy days were over. I wouldn't be losing to Princess anymore.

The advanced students had started to filter in during my evaluation session.

"Going to make introductions?" one of the guys called from the side.

In my mental note I marked him as horny and hopeful. I didn't plan to help him with either.

"We will wait until everyone is here," Mr. Kim told him.

"How many in the class?" I asked.

"Seven, five men and two... If you join us there will be eight, with three women."

At one minute before starting time Double-H asked again, "How about introductions?"

"Give her a minute to get here," a woman responded. "You know she always arrives at the last second."

Even as she was speaking a door was flung open and the last student arrived.

I don't know why I was surprised. I should have expected it. Remember Mr. Kim saying that exactly three students had ever thrown him? (Well, now it's four with me... Or will he claim that was before I was a student and say it doesn't count?) Anyway, I suspected the last arrival was not the one he said only threw him by getting lucky.

"Shego?" Kim asked in disbelief.

"Do you know Ms. Ivy?" Mr. Kim asked.

"Ms. Ivy?"

"I believe Miss Possible and I have run into each other a few times," I explained. "But I don't think she knows my name."

Mr. Kim made the introductions, "Kimberly, class, Ms. Ivy will be joining our sessions. A couple of you were here while I was sparring with her, so you know she's good."

"Call me Bella," I told them and went over to stand with the other students.

"Bella Ivy," Kim whispered. "Middle name Donna?"

"But of course," I smiled.

"And a fake name."

"But of course."

Mr. Kim coughed to get our attention, "You can talk after class. You're here to train."


	14. K: Nothing Ever Goes Away

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Kim: Nothing Ever Goes Away**

I'd been upset with Ron when he wanted to take me to the zombie movie, but some of that resentment ended by the time my movie was over and I chatted with Shego. Maybe I should have told him exactly what sequel I wanted to see, but is it too much to expect him to take the initiative sometimes rather than leaving everything to me? I watch his flicks – he should realize it's his turn. I'll admit Ron would have hated the Memo Pad II as much as I'd have hated his zombie movie. It's hard to find a movie that makes us both happy.

He saw me standing at the other end of the multi-plex as he walked down the hall and gave me a big wave. I waved back to show I'd seen him.

And his first words to me, when he came over, were, "Any popcorn left?"

I gritted my teeth, "No, Ron, Shego and I ate it all."

"Shego?"

"Remember, as Miss Go she watched the original with me? Some people appreciate sensitive movies." Actually, this one stunk. But when his first words were about popcorn rather than how he'd missed me, or was my movie any good, I'd lost the forgiving mood.

"Shego?"

"We just watched the movie."

"You didn't fight or anything?"

"No."

"You said you gave her that black eye the other day?"

"Yeah, when she hit me in the mouth. I'd really like to know what she's up to."

He nodded in agreement, "Well, with Drakken you know it's no good."

Ron had to study that night. He's really having to buckle down if he wants to graduate. Sometimes I feel guilty. Does he do poorly in school because of the time he spends helping me? His mom tells me he'd just be playing video games if he didn't have my back, and based on the fact I book hard when we get home, and Ron doesn't, I want to believe her, but it still makes me feel a little guilty.

So I went over my notes for classes that night. I was doing well in all my classes, but graduation wasn't far away and I wanted to ace my final exams.

I tried not to think about Shego that night or during school the next day. Talk about the elephant in the room. I still thought she must be following me, except for the fact sometimes she's somewhere before I am. I knew I wasn't following her. And Wade's suggestions? No way do Shego and I think alike! But the level of coincidence is creepy.

What I knew for certain is there would be a BIG fight coming up eventually. Attending my martial arts lessons moved up the priority list. Shego's good. She's the only villain I fight who could really beat me in a fair fight. Not that Shego always fights fair.

Still, given what I'd seen her do with her plasma power, she could probably kill me if she wanted. It was probably her days as a hero, or maybe she didn't want a murder rap. In any case I want to be ready for her.

I arrived at Mister Kim's at the last minute. I arrive everywhere at the last minute. I have too many irons in the fire. What I wouldn't give for... I don't even have time to think about it – what I'd give or what I want, I mean.

I'd like more women into martial arts. It's good to be able to defend yourself. It might also be a lesson in equality for some of the guys. There was this one guy in the group, Tom, who... Sorry, digressing. New student tonight, but not a welcome sight.

"Shego?" I asked in disbelief.

"Do you know Ms. Ivy?" Mister Kim asked.

"Ms. Ivy?"

"I believe Miss Possible and I have run into each other a few times," Shego explained. "But I don't think she knows my name."

It took a minute for things to quiet a little and to get started. Mister Kim looked over at me, "Because you've met Ms Ivy before why don't you help her with the warming up exercises?"

Shego and I glanced nervously at each other. I hoped it was as unsettling for her as it was for... I take that back. I hope it was worse for her. I knew it was plenty bad for me.

It was pretty obvious to me why Shego was there, I can beat her in fights. Maybe I don't beat her all the time, but I can beat her. If she was following me she'd found out where and when I train and was here to spy on me. If it was coincidence, as I doubted, her motive was just as obvious. I can beat her in fights, and therefore she was in training to beat me.

I decided my best course of action in either situation was to make sure she didn't see all I have.

That got a lot harder late in the session when Mister Kim put us together for a little sparring. I was perfectly willing to look bad in sparring and lose to Shego.

Sometimes I think Shego is lazy. I mean, she's working for that clown Drakken instead of trying to take over the world herself and she's got a lot more on the ball than he does. I figure she's a classic under-achiever. It sure seemed like she was lazy as we started sparring. There wasn't anywhere near the intensity as when we're really fighting.

I was too busy watching Shego to look at Mister Kim, but Rick told me after class he was frowning as he watched us. While I didn't see Mister Kim I heard the edge in his voice when he barked, "What's wrong with you two? You act like lovers! You aren't trying!"

Shego's eyes narrowed, "Cheater," she hissed, "you're holding back."

"Take's one to know one," I shot back and aimed a kick at her.

She wasn't as off-guard as I thought and she managed to flip me. I went high into the air. I've also got some gymnastics and cheerleader training.

She might not have been off-guard for my first attack, but she sure wasn't ready for my follow-up. She probably expected me to be flat on my back, but I landed ready to attack and knocked her legs out from under her.

It sounded like all the other students were applauding... I kept my eyes on Shego. "Much better," Mister Kim told us. "Off the mat. Thomas, Richard, your turn."

I probably should have talked with Mister Kim after the session was over. He knows me well enough he'd believe me about Shego being a criminal. But a little part of me wanted to keep an eye on Shego and see just how much she was learning, and a little part of me had too much pride to think she was really better and I needed to fear her, and a medium-sized part of me worried she might get violent and hurt him or his family. I wasn't sure I'd ever known Shego to do something petty like that... I mean, heck, she knows where I live and must hate me a lot more than she'd hate the Kim family if she weren't allowed to attend the classes.

While I agonized Shego changed clothes and left. I was pretty sure I'd see her at the next session.

She was there at the next session... I consoled myself with the fact that training against her would help me get better. And if she stopped attending she was probably off stealing something or Drakken was finally getting his plans together. I resolved to treat her presence, or absence, as a trouble barometer.


	15. S: Negative Yields Negative

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Shego: Negative Expectations Yield Negative Results**

A really fast round trip to Japan left me exhausted. I didn't go to steal Drakken's quantum doo-hickey. This was more of a social call, to ask how the research was going and a preliminary casing of the joint.

Of course, you can't go in saying, "Hi, I'm a thief and looking for the best way to steal your invention." I dressed nicely and went as the veep of a big electronics firm. We'd heard of their research and wondered how their development and testing was going, yada, yada, yada.

I figured the guy I talked with was three down from the top. High enough to be helpful, but not high enough to answer all the questions Drakken wanted me to ask. You look too interested in some of the details the Doc wanted and they might smell a rat.

They hoped to have the prototype at the testing stage in about four months and would work on any bugs they found in developing the final version. No, I wasn't allowed to see it.

Middleton was feeling more like home than anyplace I could remember since leaving my family. I tried to make up my mind if that's good or bad.

Anyway, got back from Japan feeling exhausted, but didn't want to miss a night of training. There are two schools of thought on skipping an activity. One school of thought says you drag yourself to the gym, or office, or wherever even if you feel like crap to reinforce a positive training slash work ethic. I'm not big on ethics, and the other school of thought is that sometimes you're better off staying home and going to bed. Like I said, I'm not big on ethics, but training is damn important.

So, I dragged my ass down to Mr. Kim's... Really like some of his exercises on concentration. This is as much mental as it is physical, and I wished I'd had someone his caliber talking about focus when I first started with my idiot brothers in Team Go.

But the exhaustion caught up with me during the sparring at the end. Princess was whipping my butt. In a real fight she'd have had me trussed up and ready for the cops.

And frustration does not help concentration, and half of fighting is mental... Remember? So the more frustrated I became the worse I got beat.

"Are you all right, Miss Ivy?" the instructor called.

"Tired," I admitted.

"Miss Possible, Miss Ivy is done for the evening. I do not wish for her to be injured."

Part of me resented the hell out of his comment. Part of me was very grateful he called an end to the sparring and I didn't have to admit I was licked.

And Pumpkin was looking way too pleased with herself when she bowed with a smile at the end.

"I really am exhausted," I whispered to her.

"I don't care, I... Hey, I've been exhausted when I fought you before."

"Did you win those fights?"

"No," she admitted. "But still feels good to beat you."

"Less whispering," Mr. Kim ordered.

I knew what I needed after the class was over... Well, _that_ would have been better, but _that_ takes two and I didn't have anyone to do it with. Which meant I'd have to settle for a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia. Hey, I deserved it. I'd done my Japan mission perfectly. I'd then been a good girl and attended the training session rather than being a sloth and crawling immediately into bed. And finally, having been flattened by Pumpkin I deserved some cold, sweet consolation.

But I did not want Princess following me... If she followed me... The weird factor around Middleton is threatening me with paranoia.

There's a ratty little grocery a couple blocks from Mr. Kim's. I'd go over, buy the B and J, and head back to the lair, put on my pajamas and eat it in bed. Clearly a couple steps down from _that_, but still pretty damn good.

But the cheerleader might be heading to the grocery for eggs or something before going home. Since I prefer to keep my ice cream preference to myself, and I needed a little sneaking practice, I figured I'd go down a dark alley and case the grocery to insure Kim wasn't running an errand. She, of course, would never dream of going down a dark alley. And I wasn't afraid of anything I might find in a dark alley in Middleton. Hell, my hometown had more crime on the main streets than this burg has in its back alleys. Anyone who tried to mug me was going to find himself in a full body cast.

As I expected, no muggers...

Are there even enough people going through dark alleys to justify muggers hanging out there? I mean some bank robber was supposed to have said, when asked why he robbed banks, 'Because that's where the money is.' I can't imagine enough people with dough going through alleys to make it worth a mugger's time. Junkies... Okay, junkies might hang out in alleys because they're hoping not to be seen. But most junkies don't have enough money to be worth robbing.

No muggers, but there was a figure in the shadows, trying to stay hidden, about half a block ahead and moving in the same direction I was. In the darkness I couldn't tell much. I guessed it was a woman, but it could have been a slender man. I couldn't think of many legit reasons for going down the alley, but I could think of a lot of reasons that included adjectives like illegal or immoral.

Obviously I was following a kindred soul of some kind. I grinned to myself, since the crook ahead was trying to remain unobserved I'd just practice my stealth mode. How close could I get to her without her being aware of my presence?

The darkness was not entirely in my favor. Yeah, it made it hard for her to see me, but it also made it hard for me to tell when she was turning around to look behind her, and I had to be real careful how I moved, since I couldn't see the ground well and didn't want to make a noise by kicking something.

The figure stopped at the end of the alley, remaining in the shadow of a building rather than venturing out onto the well-lit street.

_"Probably checking the sidewalk for potential witnesses... Or victims,"_ I thought to myself.

I crept in closer, I'd give the little thief a surprise. Turned out she gave me one too. "Possible?" I said in disbelief, "What the hell are you doing?"


	16. K: Positive Expectations Bring Negative

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Kim: Positive Expectations Yield Negative Results**

Part of me was so glad I wasn't needing to stop Drakken's Plan of the Week that I really didn't care what he was up to. I really, really hoped that by the time he and Shego sprang their next scheme I'd have a little more time to stop them.

Final exams are almost here. I know I'll do well, but they're still stressful. There are a lot of other things to finish up at Middleton High.

And there's college. I've applied to a bunch of places, and been accepted everywhere I applied. Heck, I've received letters from schools I haven't applied to saying they'd accept me without an application form, fee, or essay. I still haven't decided where I want to go, or what I want to study.

Mom said, "Take general education classes, you don't have to declare a major right away." She knew she wanted to be a brain surgeon in the ninth grade.

Dad said, "Take general education classes, you don't have to declare a major for a couple years." He knew he wanted to be a rocket scientist at age seven when he was watching Captain Constellation.

Ron was not going to be around much this summer. The final verdict came down he'd need to pass three classes in summer school if he was going to any college this fall.

And things were kind of weird between him and me and the moment. He's been my best friend forever, since pre-K. He's saved my life. But I wasn't getting any different treatment from him as girlfriend than best friend. As best friend I never minded if I didn't get a compliment, or he blew me off to play video games with Felix, or forgot my birthday or Valentine's Day. But aren't you supposed to treat a girlfriend a little different from one of the guys? Was I asking too much? It worried me. I didn't want to lose him as my best friend, but I was so resentful of how poorly I felt I was being treated as a girlfriend I worried I might tell him to go jump in the lake if he couldn't show the same interest in me I'd seen him show in other girls. Is that a problem with Ron, or is it a problem with me?

Everyone thinks, "Kim Possible, girl hero, she has it all together." People may think I have it all together, but it's held together with chewing gum and cheap string and I feel like it could fall apart at any time.

Shego was yawning at the martial arts class tonight. And she was out of it. At first, while we were sparring, I thought she might be holding back again. After a couple minutes, though, I recognized she was really having a bad night, and Mr. Kim mercifully called an end to it.

Part of me was really happy, and a little guilty, for beating Shego so easily – but mostly I was stressed about graduation, and college, and Ron. I'm a firm believer in not eating sweets just because you're feeling down. On the other hand, I decided a victory over Shego deserved a reward.

Not that I wanted to be obvious about it. I was sure not going to get in her face and laugh, "Ha! Got you!" That is A: rude, and B: it was obvious she was having a bad night, and C: I might be the one having a bad night next time, and I didn't want her mad at me for rubbing tonight in. Mocking her wouldn't count as I reward, I wanted a treat from the grocery store. It wasn't a great grocery. I'd stopped there once after class for eggs. They sell a lot of liquor and snack foods, but they've got a big ice cream section by the frozen pizza.

I got out fast after class that evening. I didn't know Shego's plans, but given the freaky way things were going I didn't want to run into her at the grocery. I figured I'd head down the alley, then check the street when I got to the far end, and if the coast was clear I could go into the grocery without Shego (or any of the 'Kim Possible you shouldn't be eating that or going in there' crowd) seeing me.

The alley was deserted and I made good time. If I didn't see Shego coming down the street I might have time to get into the store, grab what I wanted, and get out unnoticed. I carefully hid in the shadows and peered out.

And I must have jumped at least a foot at, "Possible? What the hell are you doing?"

I whipped around, afraid she might be ready to attack, but she was just standing there, staring. "What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Going to the grocery store."

"Down the alley? I don't believe you."

"Okay, what are you doing creeping down the alley?"

"I was not creeping!"

"Looked that way to me."

"So, you admit you followed me?"

"I sure as hell would not follow you. I was going down the alley, to the grocery store, and saw this chick up ahead sneaking around, so, like a good–"

"I was not sneaking!"

"Creeping, sneaking... Whatever. I saw someone acting suspicious as hell. And being a good citizen I watched her to make sure she didn't get into trouble. So, Pumpkin, why were you going down the alley this time of night?"

There were a few uncomfortable seconds before I answered, "I was, uh, going to the grocery store."

"To the grocery store?" she repeated in a mocking tone.

"Well, you were too. Why were you in the alley?"

"I was trying to avoid you. Why did you take this route?"

"I was, uh, hoping to avoid you."

We actually laughed.

"I, uh, need to pick up something for Drakken," she told me, and stepped out onto the street.

"I'm picking up something for my Mom... I mean my Dad... No, my brothers," I said walking beside her.

"Going to need a shopping cart for all that."

"Just my brothers. Forget Mom and Dad."

"Consider them forgotten, Princess. So, you and your brothers on friendly terms now?"

I hate getting caught in a lie. "Yeah," I said.

I'm pretty sure she could tell from my tone I wasn't telling the truth. I saw her smile, but she didn't say anything. We went into the store and both headed for frozen foods. She went right to the freezer I wanted, the one with the Ben & Jerry's.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"Cherry Garcia."

"So am I."

"With our luck, there'll only be one," she said. "Dibs! It's Drakken's favorite."

"Well, it's my Dad's favorite too!"

"I thought it was for your brothers."

"Okay, it's for me. And I deserve it more than Drakken."

"Well, guess what, Pumpkin, it's my favorite and I deserve it more. Today sucked and I want a little consolation."

"Well, my day... There it is. There's a whole row of them."

"Your day what? Little Miss Perfect had a sucky day too?"

"I don't want to talk about my day."

"That bad, or that good?" she demanded. "C'mon, Cheerleader, your waist says you aren't sneaking ice cream every night. What's the occasion?"

"I don't have to tell you anything!"

"I told you, my day sucked. So, how was yours?"

"My day was... My day... Life's kinda stressful right now. I told myself I was getting it because I beat you tonight, but I think it was more the stress."

I thought she was going to say something about being tired. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't. Instead she opened the freezer and pulled out two pints. "You're buying tonight," she told me. "Next time you have a bad night, admit it and maybe I'll buy the ice cream for you."

I considered protesting, but at least she hadn't given me excuses or threats. "Okay."

We didn't say anything as we walked back to our vehicles.

The next day I had a spa appointment at eight. Around five the receptionist called me, "Kim?"

"Yes?"

"I wanted to warn you, I just noticed Ms Kestrel also has an appointment scheduled at eight this evening."

"Ms Kestrel?"

"That woman you almost got into a fight with last time. I wondered if you wanted to reschedule your session to avoid her?"

What I wondered was how many fake identities Shego had, and how she managed to keep them all straight – assuming she did manage to keep them all straight. "No, that's okay. She and I'll just ignore each other."

Apparently the spa was running just a little late, "Five minutes," the receptionist promised

Shego was there in the waiting area. "Why am I not surprised," she muttered.

"This freaking you out as much as it's freaking me out?"

"Yep."

That seemed to cover it pretty well. I figured we both still suspected the other was following her. There seemed no point in talking about it. "You done with the front section of paper?" I asked.

She handed it over. Four minutes later we were on our own massage tables.

There is a sense in which my life has never been normal, at least not normal like other people have normal lives. But there's normal for me. Weird normal, but normal for me. It seemed like having Shego around was become the new normal. Which was really weird even by my standards.


	17. S: Anything That Begins Well Ends Badly

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Shego: Anything That Begins Well Ends Badly**

More than three months of attending martial arts classes together means Princess and I will sometimes chat for awhile, before or after class, and it can almost sound like we're comfortable with each other. Notice, I said almost sound. I doubt Princess and I will ever be really comfortable with each other, so I assumed a casual voice when I asked, at the end of class, "You know what movie's opening this weekend?"

"Not if you mean anything besides Summer Nights."

"That's the one I'm planning to see. Can I assume you're planning to go?"

"Of course."

"Want to talk about when?"

"Why? We either both go at the time we want - and end up by each other. Or we each try to avoid the other, and still end up at the same showing... Or do you mean let's talk about it so we can go to different showings?"

"Actually I... Are you planning to go with Ron?" I'd normally call him Doofus, but I had my game face on, and you get more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar so I wanted to sound nice.

"No, I... We... He wouldn't like it. And he's got a lot of work to do this summer. We're not going to see it."

"You and I kinda have similar tastes in movies, so I thought maybe we could see it together."

"Haven't we been doing everything together the last few months?"

"Seriously."

"Seriously? You and I go to a–"

"Ask your friend Monique to come with us."

"Monique?"

"Sure. She didn't freak out when you introduced us. And if she hangs around with you she's used to weird stuff."

"You realize she's my emergency backup on missions?"

"No, but what difference does it make? I'm not planning to start something with you."

"I... Oh, what the heck. You buy soda, I'll bring the popcorn."

"And Monique."

"Why do you keep insisting on Monique."

"You want anyone to see the two of us together and think we're a couple?"

"I'll ask Monique."

On Saturday I was hiding in the shadows of theater five with three sodas, and kicking myself for being a damn fool. I'd handed Possible the perfect opportunity to trap me. None of the other patrons in the theater looked like undercover cops... The sign of a good undercover cop? Not looking like an undercover cop. Maybe they'd wait until I left the theater. That was how they got Dillinger. Even if there was no trap I'd set myself up to be dumped. She knew where I'd be, and when. She could go off and do something else. Even if she wasn't planning to stand me up I was afraid I'd shown myself as needy by asking for company. Never show weakness. I'm Shego. I don't need anybody.

Kim and Monique came in hurriedly.

"Where is she?" the African-American woman asked.

"I don't know, but there're signs on our seats saying reserved..." Kim pointed out. "She's got to be around here."

"Are you sure they're reserved for us?"

"Pretty sure... Shego gets what she wants."

The two of them sat down, _"Great,"_ I thought, _"now I look raving paranoid."_ I slipped quietly out of hiding, wondering why I felt nervous as a teen, and casually approached. "Oh, good, you're here. There was this huge line for sodas."

I kept Monique between me and Kim. It was opening weekend and there was quite a crowd, but the movie was good and everyone was too busy watching to make noise.

Monique spoke as we headed for the exit, "Kim sprang for the popcorn, and you bought sodas," she reminded me. "Let me get coffee for you two."

Kim hesitated. Spending a couple hours in the dark looking at a screen while seated near me was one thing. Sitting across from each other in a well-lit coffee shop would be something else.

"Wonderful idea," I told Monique and smiled at her. "I want to hear what you liked."

"Okay," Kim agreed.

When we got to the coffee shop Monique looked at me and demanded, "First or second?"

"What?"

"Pick one."

"Why."

"Tell you in a minute. Pick one."

I looked over at Princess, who looked as clueless as I felt.

I chose, "First."

"Fine. Come in with me now. Kim, you stand out here until I come get you."

As we went in Monique explained, "Kim's been telling me how you two think alike."

"We'd don't think alike."

"That's what Kim says too."

"Hey, we've already found we like the same order at coffee shops."

"Exactly. So my experiment is – you can't order your usual."

"What?"

"Pick any coffee on the menu, except your favorite, and anything from the food case, except your usual."

"Don't know what you're trying to prove," I told her and stared at the chalkboard on the wall. "But I'll have a medium mocha and a piece of the baklava... No, too sticky, the maple walnut blondie."

I found a table with four chairs and sat down while Monique brought in Kim and explained the rules. Kim arrived at the table with her order... A medium mocha and a maple walnut blondie.

"This is definitely creepy," Monique laughed.

We chatted about the movie for a half hour or so. In a lull in the conversation I commented, "What's that old thing about three women in a group... One will be the smart one, one the pretty one, and one the dumb one?"

"And where are you putting me?" Kim asked suspiciously.

Before I could say a word Monique spoke up. She looked at me and narrowed her eyes, "I'd say we disprove that one, right."

"Absolutely," I agreed quickly. "I never argue with a pretty, smart woman who buys me coffee."

I'll confess to maybe being in stalker mode. I was already thinking the next day might be good for the beach, but my plans were cemented when I heard Kim and Monique say they were heading that way with Doofus the next day.

I was going to call it a very successful day.


	18. K: Anything That Begins Badly Ends Worse

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners.

**Kim: Anything That Begins Badly Ends Worse**

I think Ron felt hurt. If he did I didn't blame him. Or maybe he didn't feel hurt. Maybe I just think he should feel hurt. Even though he's the closest friend I've got he can be so random I feel clueless around him. Did it hurt him that I wanted to drop the girlfriend status to try and keep the best friend status alive? I knew I felt hurt and resentful.

Maybe there was nothing wrong with the way he treated me as a girlfriend... I mean, what do I know about relationships? I had a date with Walter Nelson in middle school. We were both totally clueless. We thought a date was supposed to end with a kiss, and our braces got locked. Talk about embarrassing.

That put me off even trying again for years. Then, in high school I had a crush on Josh Mankey. Handsome, charming, well-groomed, and artistic Josh Mankey... Went out once with him. He treated me like a queen... A queen, funny choice of words. He never dated any girl very long. About the time she wanted to up the relationship he moved on. Senior year rumor had it he was gay, and only dated to hide the fact. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Crushed briefly on Hiro, foreign and exotic. Nothing came of that either. Really nothing, not even a date. So, how do I know how a girlfriend is supposed to be treated? You can't trust movies and TV. But I saw other guys and gals around the school. I talked with girls. That time I was stuck with Bonnie and had to go along on her date with Brick? Brick's dumber than a box of hammers. He still took Bonnie to a nicer place than Ron ever took me, and he didn't ask her to pretend to be twelve. I heard other cheerleaders talk about dates.

I really, really felt like I wasn't being treated right, at least as a girlfriend, and I got so resentful I wanted to scream at him and punch him. But he was still my best friend and I didn't want to lose that. We'll still hang around together and do things like we have for years, like going to the beach on Sunday. Maybe the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing was a mistake based on the fact we've been best friends forever and didn't know what else to do. Or maybe it will work and we need a little time to think about what it really means in terms of changing the relationship.

But before the beach I'm seeing Summer Nights this afternoon with Monique and Shego. You could have knocked me over with a feather when Shego suggested we actually watch it together on purpose. I see her more by accident these days than I see my parents on purpose... She is right, though, we do have similar tastes. Trying to force Ron to see it with me would be frustrating for me, he wouldn't like it, and we couldn't talk about it afterward. That would be obsessive girlfriend behavior. Best friends let each other do what makes them happy.

Monique is so good at getting along with anyone... I think that's what makes her so effective at Club Banana. She wanted to watch Summer Nights too, and wanted to see Shego, 'cause I've told her so much about our fights.

It was a great movie! Monique sprang for coffee after the picture, and did some test that freaked Shego and me out even more than we already were.

Sunday I picked up Ron and Monique and we headed for the beach at Middleton Lake. Ron claimed his summer classes were going great.

I caught myself before I doubted him. Ron and I have different 'greats' when it comes to school. For me great means I really understand the subject and I'm getting an A. For Ron it means he'll get a passing grade.

I told Ron that Monique and I had watched the movie yesterday with Shego.

"Still think she's following you?" he asked.

"Sometimes I wonder."

"This was set up on purpose," Monique told him. "Kim and Shego agreed on the showing ahead of time."

"Now I know you're kidding me."

"Really."

"No way."

Conversation shifted to colleges. Monique was going east for orientation next week. It had taken me so long to decide for sure where I wanted to go I was going to the last orientation session at Enormous State, but Mom had promised to go with me and I was looking forward to that.

The beach at Middleton Lake is nice. Not wonderful, but definitely nice. And enough people prefer chlorine pool water and not driving out to Lake Park that it usually isn't crowded.

Monique and I unloaded our stuff while Ron looked around.

"KP!"

"What, Ron?"

"Shego, and she's waving to get my attention."

"She's on the beach?" Monique asked. "Is there room by her? She's probably waving us over there." Monique looked over, and spotted Shego.

"You three really went to the movies together?" Ron repeated.

"Yep," I told him. "I don't know what she and and Drakken are up to, but I know it's no good. See anyone else we can sit near?"

"I'll–" Ron started, but Monique interrupted.

"That's cold, Kim. She was polite at the movie yesterday. I think we should go over. It's a good spot."

"It's probably a trap," I told her.

"Maybe. I'm not saying trust her. I'm saying it's a good spot for us, and if she can be polite to you then you can be polite for her."

Ron and I are both fair-skinned, so we had heavy duty sunscreen on and used a beach umbrella. I wondered if Shego tanned, but didn't want to show interest. She was reading _Emma_.

"You were really buying a copy?" Monique asked.

"Yeah, this is my second time through it. You see things you miss the first time through. I still don't get some of the stuff related to when it was written."

Here was a chance for me to show off, "We did a lot with it in our class. Maybe I can explain something."

Three of us chatted about _Emma_ for a couple minutes. Then I realized Ron probably felt left out and tried to swing it to something where he could join in. The movie yesterday, of course, was out. He'd brought a basket with snacks. I asked about that. The conversation swung to food. Then I kind of felt left out. It went to fashion, and Ron was out. Talked a little about fights with Drakken, and Monique felt left out.

Ron and I swam for awhile. Monique took a nap and Shego read. It was a lazy afternoon, just taking it easy... Shego swam for awhile too. Then, sometime between three and four, Shego asked me, "Where do they get the volley balls?"

"Huh?"

"Volley balls. There's a net open. Do you have to bring your own or can you get them here?"

"They have them at the snack shack. It's–"

"Why's it called Lost Carcosa?"

"I don't know. Doesn't matter. A dollar to rent a volley ball, and you leave some kind of deposit – like a driver's license."

"C'mon, Monique and I against you and Ron."

I didn't want to commit Ron and Monique without asking them, "I don't–" I started to say.

"You can't beat KP," Ron said.

It sounded like he was in.

Shego nudged Monique, "We're playing volleyball against Princess and Doofus, losing team buys ice cream bars."

"Hey," I protested, "how come you've been calling him Ron, and now he's Doofus again?"

"I take my volleyball serious, Pumpkin, and you're now the enemy."

I'm really good at volleyball. I don't know Shego's level, but I was guessing she was pretty good too. From gym class I remember Monique is decent. Ron is... On any given day you don't know who Ron will be. He can be insightful, or totally clueless. He can be super efficient, or he can be lucky, or he can be total klutz.

For the first set it felt like it was three against one, with me as the one. Ron was so not in the game.

The first part of the second set wasn't much better. Ron and I were down eight points and they were three points from winning when I called a timeout and talked with Ron.

It seemed to work. He broke Monique's next serve and played great defense, we picked up six points while I served. We held Shego to one point on her service. His first serve was a little weak, but I was at the net and spiked it when Monique put it over. And after that he served four aces, winning the set. It was incredible!

Monique congratulated him. Even Shego seemed impressed, although she expressed it as, "Who is this guy? You bring in a ringer?"

Super Ron continued into the match set, but it really made Shego and Monique step up their game and it stayed close. Ron wasn't getting any more aces in, but his serves were good, and with me at the net I was sure we'd win. We were two points from going out and he was serving.

Ron got ready to serve, and Shego jerked up her top, letting her breasts bounce out. Ron's serve was way out of bounds.

"Cheater," I shouted as Shego got herself back together.

"Find it in the rules, Princess. Not my fault if he's distracted."

Monique served a couple points, and now they were ahead of us and a point from winning. Shego tossed the ball back to Monique, "Serve to Ron."

Monique served, and Shego flashed him again! The ball hit him right in the head! I tried desperately to save it. I dove and knocked the ball up in the air, but it still wasn't what Ron was looking at and it fell onto the sand.

"Set and match," Shego laughed, getting her breasts back into her suit. "Way to go partner," she told Monique and patted her on the rear.

"Got to agree with Kim," Monique told her, "not sure that's fair."

"So, you won't eat the ice cream bars they're paying for?"

"I didn't say that."

I was still unhappy as we sat around eating ice cream. "That was so unfair," I complained.

I looked over at Ron for confirmation of my opinion, but he was eating his ice cream bar with a big goofy grin on his face. "So worth it," he murmured.

About a half hour later we headed back to Middleton.

"Can you let Ron off first?" Monique asked.

"But you live–"

"I'd like to talk with you for a minute."

Ron spoke up, "No problem. I'm always willing to skip the girl talk."

I let Ron out and asked, "What is it?" as I put the car into drive.

"Wait until we get to my house. I don't want you driving when I say something."

Now I was curious. But I didn't speed. I only speed in emergencies, not for curiosity. But when I stopped in front of her place I put the car in park and turned off the engine. "Now, what is it?"

"I think Shego was hitting on me."

"What?"

"She's a little too friendly."

"I don't think–"

"I'm not talking about just chatting with me. That wasn't just a pat on the booty at the end of the game, it was an invitation. And while you and Ron were getting the ice cream bars she asked for my phone number."

"She what?"

"Oh, she was good. It was kind of a jokey way of asking. She wanted my number, but she could act like it was a joke if I didn't want to give it to her."

"Did you..."

Monique frowned at me, "Of course not."


End file.
